Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka’s head selector, has confirmed that Dhananjaya de Silva will replace Dimuth Karunaratne as Test captain, making him the country’s 18th Test skipper.
Dhananjaya de Silva (photo:ANI)
Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka’s head selector, has confirmed that Dhananjaya de Silva will replace Dimuth Karunaratne as Test captain, making him the country’s 18th Test skipper.
Karunaratne had been in charge of 30 Tests, winning 12, losing 12, and drawing six. Sri Lanka’s most famous victories came in his first two matches as captain, when they won a memorable Test series in South Africa in early 2019, becoming the first Asian team to do so and only the third in history.
During a turbulent moment in Sri Lankan cricket, he took over as captain in 2019 and restored stability and peace to the dressing room. While the national team’s performances were inconsistent, Karunaratne’s captaincy coincided with his best spell as a batter.
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His career average of 40.93 would be significantly lower than his captaincy average of 49.86. He established himself as Sri Lanka’s reliable operator during this period, rising to the top of the Test batting rankings.
His sucessor, Silva, has also been a regular in the national team, having played 51 Tests and scoring 10 hundreds and 13 fiftees. His first duty will be a one-time test against Afghanistan, beginning on February 6.
Dhananjaya is the third captaincy change for Sri Lanka in recent weeks, following the appointments of Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga to head the ODI and T20I squads, respectively.
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