Sri Lankan cricket is getting ready for some massive changes in the cricket teams across all the formats in international cricket. The national selectors are thinking of sculpting a new One-Day squad to achieve better results, especially after West Indies defeated the Lankans in the recent ODI series.
Reports suggest that the selectors might drop some of the big guns from the side, including Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Lahiru Thirimanne, and the same might have resulted in Thisara Perera announcing his retirement from international cricket.
Recent reports suggest that Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain in Test and One Day International, can be sacked as an ODI skipper as the selectors are planning to change the leadership. The swashbuckling left-handed batsman Kusal Perera is likely to replace Karunaratne as the new leader of the side in the 50-over format.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Kusal Mendis can be handed the responsibility of being the vice-captain of the side in ODI cricket. However, no change is expected in the T20I leadership group as Dasun Shanaka is set to remain the T20 captain.
“We are focusing on the 2023 World Cup and this is a good learning experience for the players. We want to groom a new captain and most probably Kudal Mendis is tipped to be the new Vice-Captain. We want to give him that confidence by naming him as the vice-captain,”
an official close to Sri Lanka Cricket told Daily News Sri Lanka.
Further, the source also claimed that the selectors are looking to bring in some fresh blood in the side, which might result in the sacking of the senior players. It is expected that Sri Lanka will give a chance to several youngsters to make their presence felt on the international stage in the upcoming series against Bangladesh.
