Image Credit- AFP
Dhananjaya de Silva is all set to become the 18th
different player to lead Sri Lanka in Test Cricket as SLC chief selector Upul
Tharanga has now confirmed that he will lead the side, replacing former skipper
Dimuth Karunaratne.
Dhananjaya has been an integral part of the Sri Lankan
test side, having represented the Island Nation 51 times, scoring 13 fifties
and 10 hundreds in this period. His first gig after being appointed as the skipper
will begin against Afghanistan, against who they will be playing a one-off test
in February.
His predecessor Karunaratne had led them in 30 test
matches, with the biggest feather under his cap coming right at the beginning
of his tenure as captain, that saw his side beat South Africa in South Africa,
making Sri Lanka the only Asian side to win a Test series in the Rainbow Nation,
and the third overall.
In the 30 tests as captain, Karunaratne won 12, lost
12, and drew 6 of them. However, it was believed that the time was right to
have a change in the leadership capacity of the test side.
His leadership style and methods brought a sense of
tranquility and calm inside the dressing room, something that was sorely missing
in the past. He also had the best period of his career as a batsman while
captaining the side, with his batting average of 49.86 as skipper comfortably
higher than his career average of 40.93.
While Karunaratne holds enormous goodwill for keeping
the test side competitive despite assuming the reins of the side at a time when
Sri Lanka cricket was in tatters, the feeling was that he had run his course as
the captain of the Test side.
Sri Lanka had earlier also made changes in the
captaincy for the ODI and T20 sides as well, with Kusal Mendis set to lead in
ODIs, whereas all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga will be leading them in the T20is.