Shanaka first captained Sri Lanka in 2019, on the crew’s first tour to Pakistan for the reason that 2009 Lahore assault, nevertheless it was not till 2021 that he grew to become their common captain. Beneath him, Sri Lanka gained 23 out of 41 ODIs and 22 out of 48 T20Is. The spotlight of his tenure was the 2022 T20 Asia Cup victory within the UAE the place Sri Lanka beat Pakistan within the last.
Additionally notable have been ODI sequence wins in opposition to South Africa and Australia, and a T20I sequence win in opposition to India, all at house. Shanaka additionally oversaw Sri Lanka’s unbeaten run by the 2023 World Cup Qualifier. However all these achievements have been interspersed with poor showings within the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups in addition to the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Nevertheless, it was his poor type with the bat, primarily in ODIs, that put him below probably the most scrutiny and made folks query his place within the facet. As such, it was extensively anticipated that the brand new choice committee would look elsewhere when it comes to the captaincy.
His replacements, Mendis and Hasaranga, each have current expertise in management roles. Mendis is a former Beneath-19 captain and the present skipper of Dambulla Aura within the LPL. Halfway by the 2023 ODI World Cup, he took over the reins from Shanaka when the latter obtained injured. Hasaranga, who’s presently recovering from a hamstring surgical procedure, had earlier this 12 months led B-Love Kandy to their inaugural LPL title.
Shanaka should still play a job in Sri Lanka’s white-ball set-ups after he was named within the preliminary squads for the limited-overs sequence in opposition to Zimbabwe at house in January.
