Chandimal named Test captain; Tharanga to lead in ODIs, T20s

Dinesh Chandimal has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s new Test captain while Upul Tharanga has been named as team’s captain in the shorter formats.

The announcement was made, a short while ago, during a press conference held at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Angelo Mathews also announced his resignation as captain in all three formats, in the same press briefing.

Mathews had reportedly met with chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya to discuss his future with the team before a one-off Test against Zimbabwe beginning on Friday.

He stated that he took the decision following Sri Lanka’s recent poor run of form and the ODI series loss to Zimbabwe which he termed was his “lowest point” in his cricket career.

“Yes, there have been significant poor performances, and I’m humble enough to accept it. In the past also there were instances where I wanted to step down but I didn’t want to let the team down at that time, mainly because there were no replacements.”

“The team’s interests supercede the individuals. Now there are candidates to take over, and I’m sure they will be more successful than me. I also wanted to give my successor time to build a team for the 2019 World Cup,” he said.

Tharanga was also named as the Vice Captain of the Test squad in addition to serving as the captain of Sri Lankan one-day international (ODI) and Twenty20 teams.

Chandimal’s first outing as captain will be the upcoming one-off Test against Zimbabwe while Sri Lanka next faces India in a three-Test home series.