ICC World Cup 2019: Dimuth Karunaratne Appointed Sri Lanka Skipper for Showpiece Event
Apr 17, 2019 at 11:14 PM
Sri Lankan Test opener Dimuth Karunaratne has been named as the new ODI skipper of the national team. Ending the speculations of who will be the skipper of Sri Lanka for the 2019 World Cup, the selectors made a surprising call by naming Dimuth Karunaratne as the new skipper in the 50 overs format.
The southpaw will lead Sri Lanka in the upcoming World Cup which is slated to be played in England and Wales from 30th May.
“Karunaratne’s appointment was ratified by the Minister of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment and Sports Honorable Harin Fernando,” Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed through a media release.
Sri Lanka has been going through a difficult phase in finalizing their squad for the 2019 World Cup. While most of the other teams have already finalised their squads for the showpiece event, the Islanders were pondering upon who will take their charges for the quadrennial event.
It is a surprising call by the selectors to make Dimuth Karunaratne the skipper especially given the fact that he last played an ODI for Sri Lanka back in the 2015 World Cup.
Lasith Malinga led Sri Lanka on their last tour to South Africa. However, he has been sacked as a skipper after Sri Lanka were humiliated 5-0 in the ODI series and 2-0 in the T20I series.
There have been quite a few players who have led Sri Lanka in the recent past. However, the selectors decided to go with a surprising name by naming Dimuth Karunaratne as the captain.
It will be a huge task for the opening batsman and his record in the 50 overs format doesn’t suggest any reason why the selectors went with him. He has scored just 190 runs in 16 ODI’s.
However, his captaincy skills were on display when he led Sri Lanka to a historic Test series win in South Africa. Hence his name came up in ODI’s and the selectors felt he could do the job for Sri Lanka even in the shorter formats.