Colombo: Sri Lanka’s cricket board on Wednesday appointed Dimuth Karunaratne, as the captain of the Sri Lankan ODI team. This decision means that the left-handed batsman will be leading the side in the upcoming World Cup, International Cricket Council (ICC) reported.
Most of the cricketing teams have been finalising their squads for the World Cup, but Sri Lanka was going through a turbulent time trying to figure out who can lead their team in England for the World Cup. Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera, have all helmed the reins of the side at various stages over the past two years.
But with the mega tournament fast approaching, the selectors have gone for Karunaratne to lead the side. Karunaratne has not played a single ODI since the 2015 World Cup. The 30-year-old batsman has scored just 190 runs in 17 ODI’s at an average below than 16.
The left-handed Karunaratne recently led the Sri Lankan side to a historic Test series clean-sweep over South Africa. This series marked his name propping up for the ODI captaincy as well. Sri Lanka has failed to be consistent as an ODI team over the past two years as they have only won once in their last fifteen ODIs.
The selectors of Sri Lanka are yet to announce the World Cup squad. Sri Lanka takes on South Africa and Australia in the warm-up matches before the World Cup on May 24 and May 27. The team will face New Zealand in their opening match of the World Cup on June 1.
