Dhananjaya de Silva announced as Sri-Lanka’s new Test Captain

"I would have preferred to have the same captain for all three formats," said Upul Tharanga, head selector, "but we are unable to do that at the moment with the players we have."

In 2024, Sri Lanka will have a new captain for every format following the announcement of Dhananjaya de Silva as the team’s new Test captain. The SLC statement comes after Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga were named captains of the ODI and T20I teams, respectively.

When De Silva, 32, takes the team out for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, he will become the 18th different player to captain Sri Lanka in men’s Test cricket. Dimuth Karunaratne, who captained the team in 30 Test matches between 2019 and 2023 and finished with a 12-12-6 win-loss-draw record.

While the team’s results were less spectacular after his historic, against-all-odds series victory in South Africa to start his captaincy, he instilled calm in the team amid a turbulent time for the nation’s cricket. Karunaratne, the hitter, was able to reach his full potential under leadership, as evidenced by his lifetime average of forty-nine.93, which he barely touched.

De Silva, his replacement, has consistently played for the team. In his 51 Test matches thus far, he has scored 3301 runs at an average little under 40.

“I would have preferred to have the same captain for all three formats,” said Upul Tharanga, head selector, “but we are unable to do that at the moment with the players we have.”