Sri Lanka name different captains for Test, ODI and T20I teams

Sri Lanka`s captain Kusal Mendis walks through the field during the 2023 ICC Men`s Cricket World Cup one-day international (Pic: AFP)

Sri Lanka cricket selectors on Wednesday named different captains for the Test, one-day international and Twenty20 sides ahead of tours by Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

Batting all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, 32, will be Test skipper while Kusal Mendis, 28, will lead the ODI team and Wanidu Hasaranga, 26, will captain the Twenty20 squad. It is the first time that Sri Lanka will have separate skippers for all three formats.

"I would have preferred to have the same captain for all three formats," chief selector Upul Tharanga told reporters in Colombo. "But we are unable to do that at the moment with the players we have."

Selectors had resolved to retain Mendis through to the next ODI World Cup in 2027, Tharanga said, despite finishing second from bottom at last year's showpiece in India.

Mendis took over after the last-minute injury withdrawal of Dasun Shanaka and Tharanga said Shanaka had not considered for the captaincy due to performance issues over the past two years.

Hasaranga will lead the side for the T20 World Cup starting in June in the West Indies and United States. The latest selection announcement came ahead of white ball series against Zimbabwe starting Saturday.

Following that Sri Lanka will host Afghanistan for three T20s, three ODIs and one Test match.

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Sri Lanka ODI squad to play Zimbabwe: Kusal Mendis (captain), Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sahan Arachchige, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Akila Dananjaya, Wanidu Hasaranga

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will introduce a law to curb meddling of any sorts by people with considerable influence in the corridors of power after being suspended by the ICC for 'political interference'. A cabinet sub-committee appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe last November reported back to him on Monday with the necessary recommendations.

The sub-committee was appointed after the then Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe moved to form an interim panel to run SLC in a blatant violation of the ICC's rules for member nations.

(With agency inputs)