Dinesh Chandimal appointed as the new Sri Lankan Test captain; Upul Tharanga to lead the side in ODIs and T20Is

What’s the story?

Just 12 hours after all-rounder Angelo Mathews stepped down as the Sri Lankan captain in all three formats, Sri Lankan Cricket has announced that middle-order batsman Dinesh Chandimal will lead the Test team while veteran batsman Upul Tharanga will be the new ODI and T20I captain.

In case you didn’t know...

Last night, Angelo Mathews resigned as the captain of the Sri Lankan team after his team lost the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at home 2-3. Being the World no. 8 ODI team, the hosts started the series on a disastrous note as they lost the first ODI easily in spite of scoring over 300. It was also the first time a team has successfully chased down a total in excess of 300 in Sri Lanka.

Extra cover: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews relinquishes captaincy from all three formats

The Lankans managed to bounce back by winning the next two ODIs to take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth ODI, which was won by the visitors to level the series 2-2. Zimbabwe, ranked number 11 in ODIs, completely outplayed Mathews and co. in the fifth ODI series to seal the series and gave Sri Lanka their biggest humiliation in years.

Details

Though he was dropped from the ODI squad before the Zimbabwe series due to poor performances in the format, Chandimal has been a mainstay in the Sri Lankan Test team. He is also Lanka’s most experienced player in Test team after Rangana Herath, who was appointed as the Test captain when the Lions toured Zimbabwe in 2016 in the absence of Mathews and Chandimal.

Chandimal was also appointed the Sri Lankan T20I captain before the 2014 World T20 but was forced to sit out of the playing XI to get the team combination right. Lasith Malinga led the team in his absence and Sri Lanka were crowned as the World T20 champions.

On the other hand, Tharanga has been Mathews’ deputy in the limited-overs sides and there were no second thoughts before giving the left-hander the responsibility. Tharanga has been very consistent with the bat in the last one year and his performances have now earned him the privilege to lead the side on a full-time basis.

What’s next?

Chandimal’s first assignment as a Test captain will be the one-off Test against Zimbabwe while Tharanga’s first test as a full-time captain will be against India in the limited-overs leg that follows three-match Test series, that starts on July 26.

Author’s Take

There is no doubt that the Sri Lankan cricket is in a crisis at the moment. They are facing a lot of challenges in their transition period and reached their lowest point after the loss to Zimbabwe. The Sri Lankan board and the fans will hope that their new captains Chandimal and Tharanga will get the team back to winning ways.