Dhananjaya de Silva, the Sri Lankan all-rounder, will lead the Test team in the upcoming series against Afghanistan, with Kusal Mendis taking on the role of Vice Captain. De Silva’s captaincy will extend to the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, forming a crucial part of the home series scheduled for January – February.
Dimuth Karunaratne, who served as the captain from 2019 to 2023, led Sri Lanka with intermittent breaks. Notably, in his inaugural series as captain during 2018/19, Karunaratne achieved new heights by becoming the first Asian captain to secure a Test series victory in South Africa.
As Sri Lanka ushers in 2024, they have opted for distinct captains in each format. Dasun Shanaka has been replaced in both limited-overs formats, with Kusal Mendis taking charge in ODIs and Wanindu Hasaranga leading in T20Is.
Expressing a preference for a uniform captain across all formats, chief selector Upul Tharanga stated, “I would have preferred to have the same captain for all three formats, but we are unable to do that at the moment with the players we have.”
Dhananjaya de Silva, the newly appointed Test captain, boasts a Test record of 3,301 runs at an average of 39.77, including 10 centuries, and 34 wickets at 57.29 from 51 matches. His cricketing portfolio extends to 90 ODIs and 39 T20Is. Following the Afghanistan Test match, Sri Lanka will play in two Tests against Bangladesh in February.
