Chandimal appointed Sri Lanka’s Test captain, Tharanga to lead in ODIs and T20s

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Dinesh Chandimal was named Sri Lanka’s new Test skipper and Upul Tharanga took charge of the limited-overs squads on Wednesday. Angelo Mathews stepped down from the captaincy in all formats after registering a 3-2 ODI series defeat at home to Zimbabwe.

Angelo Mathews resigned from the post of the Sri Lanka captain on Tuesday and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed Chandimal for Test and Tharanga for ODI and T20 captaincy. The 27-year-old Chandimal, who had been vice-captain of the Test side under Mathews, has also led Sri Lanka in limited-overs cricket. Tharanga has also fulfilled captains’ responsibilities when Mathews was injured.

Sri Lanka lost the ODI series 3-2 to Zimbabwe and Mathew stated this loss as one of the lowest points in his career. After the disappointing performance, the 30-year-old took the important decision to step down, and placed his confidence in the new captains at the press conference announcing the captaincy. 

 "Yes, there have been significant poor performances, and I'm humble enough to accept it. In the past also there were instances where I wanted to step down but I didn't want to let the team down at that time, mainly because there were no replacements. The team's interests supercede the individuals. Now there are candidates to take over, and I'm sure they will be more successful than me. I also wanted to give my successor time to build a team for the 2019 World Cup", Mathews said as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

Sri Lanka's new captains don’t have much time to adjust to their roles as the team will host India in a full series from July 26, which include three tests, five one-day internationals, and a single Twenty20 match.

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