Dhananjaya de Silva named Sri Lanka’s new Test captain

Sri Lanka will kick off the new year with a separate captain for each format after Dhananjaya de Silva was named the new skipper of the Test side. The announcement from SLC follows the recent appointments of Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga as leaders of the ODI and T20I sides respectively.

De Silva, 32, will be the 18th different player to captain Sri Lanka in men’s Tests when he dons the blazer for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. He takes over the reins of the side from stalwart Dimuth Karunaratne, who marshalled the islanders in 30 Tests between 2019 and 2023, finishing with a 12-12-6 win-loss-draw record.

Karunaratne’s tenure as captain began with a bang thanks to the incredible series win in South Africa and while results thereafter were less dramatic in nature, he brought a sense of calm and order to the team during what was a period of transition in the nation’s cricket.