In their attempt to avoid any sort of controversy or backlash ahead of the forthcoming TV rights deal, the top Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) officials have decided to remove Lasith Malinga as captain after the national cricket team suffered yet another series defeat in India under his leadership, Cricket Age reliably learns. Accordingly, Dasun Shanaka is expected to take up the captaincy with immediate effect.
Sri Lanka ended the three-match T20I series against Team India with a 0-2 scoreline. After the series opener got washed out without a ball being bowled, Sri Lanka lost the remaining two games convincingly to return home without a win.
Malinga was appointed Sri Lanka’s white ball captain in December 2018. However, after a series of defeats under his leadership he was sacked as ODI captain. At that point, the enemies of Malinga had established a myth that he was not getting the support of the senior players of the team. Eventually, test specialist Dimuth Karunaratne took up the leadership ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales last year and retained the Test and ODI captaincy, even after a disastrous campaign.
According to sources, as the lucrative TV rights deal for the next five years is scheduled in March, SLC top brass are making all the decisions and moves accordingly. At least, until the deal gets locked, SLC wants to show only the positives of the Sri Lanka Cricket. According to sources, it was the main motive behind unleashing a plethora of coaches in the national setup, including a proven failure Micky Arthur, under whom supervision, Pakistan slipped embarrassingly in test and ODI format.
With the same intention to remain non controversial until TV deal, SLC officials are on the opinion to appoint Dasun Shanaka as Malinga’s successor, despite his ordinary record at international level, both as a batsman and a bowler. In 38 T20Is so far, Dasun has managed a mediocre batting average of 15 and has taken only 10 wickets. However, as he whitewashed a divided and hopeless Pakistan under Sarfaraz Ahmed, SLC officials are on the opinion to appoint him captain in a T20 world cup year.
