Image Credit- ICC
The appointment of Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga
to captain the ODI and T20I teams, respectively, by Sri Lanka’s new selection
committee has put an end to Dasun Shanaka’s tenure as the country’s white-ball
leader. This is the first time Sri Lanka has had three different captains
across three forms, with Dimuth Karunaratne now guiding the Test team.
On the squad’s first tour to Pakistan since the 2009
Lahore attack, Shanaka captained Sri Lanka for the first time in 2019. However,
he didn’t take over as captain of the team regularly until 2021. Sri Lanka won
22 of the 48 T20Is and 23 of the 41 ODIs while he was captain. The 2022 T20
Asia Cup win in the UAE, where Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the championship
match, was the high point of his term.
Notable victories in ODI series against Australia and
South Africa as well as a home T20I series victory over India were also
achieved. Additionally, Shanaka managed Sri Lanka’s undefeated progress in the
2023 World Cup qualifier. However, despite all of these successes, there were
also disappointing performances in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 ODI World Cups.
But it was his awful batting performance, especially
in ODIs, that drew the greatest criticism and caused many to wonder if he
belonged in the team. Therefore, it was generally anticipated that the newly
appointed selection committee would search elsewhere for the captaincy.
Both Mendis and Hasaranga, his replacements, have
recent leadership experience. Mendis is the current LPL captain of Dambulla
Aura and a previous captain of the Under-19 team. He replaced Shanaka as
captain of the 2023 ODI World Cup after the latter became injured. After
leading B-Love Kandy to their first-ever LPL championship earlier this year,
Hasaranga is currently recuperating from a hamstring surgery.
Shanaka was included in the preliminary teams for the
home limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in January, therefore he might still
be included in Sri Lanka’s white-ball lineups.