Newly-appointed Sri Lanka Cricket Chairman of Selectors Upul Tharanga confirmed all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva as the new Test captain, ending Dimuth Karunaratne’s leadership term with the Sri Lankan test team, which began in 2019.
As Sri Lanka Cricket looks toward the future, the responsibility of leading the Test team has been handed over the captaincy to Dhananjaya de Silva. The all-rounder brings with him a wealth of experience, having played in 51 Tests, with ten centuries and 13 fifties to his name. His maiden assignment as captain awaits against Afghanistan in a one-off Test.
Dhananjaya takes over for Dimuth Karunaratne, who led Sri Lanka in 30 Tests, winning 12, losing 12, and drawing six. He guided SL to a series victory in South Africa in 2019, becoming the first Asian team to achieve it. The Left-handed opener attained the top of the ICC Test Batting Rankings during his captaincy.
Speaking to the media, Upul Tharanga admitted that the team was inconsistent with the bat during the ODI World Cup and that the team wishes to solve those concerns in the future, stating that the batters need to establish consistency at the top level. He also brought up the team’s recent fielding shortcomings.
“We came apart at the World Cup due to the bugging inconsistency in the batting where mainly the top four who are the nucleus failed to click. If a batsman scored in one game his failure thereafter was a major setback and we aim to arrest that major drawback”.
“All these players are not short of talent, but there is an obvious shortcoming where consistency is concerned and we have already spoken with the coaches concerned regarding sorting out this problem.
“The fielding too was found wanting with a lot of dropped chances where mainly half chances went begging which at that level of the game have to be taken in keeping with the adage ‘catches win matches,” Upul Tharanga said
This announcement comes after a string of captaincy changes in Sri Lankan cricket. Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga were named captains of the ODI and T20I squads, respectively, making Dhananjaya the third captaincy change following the completion of the ODI World Cup 2023.
The Sri Lanka team is scheduled to play three ODIs, followed by as many T20Is against Zimbabwe starting from January 6.
