Batsman Dinesh Chandimal to lead Sri Lanka in all formats after Asia Cup flop

Dinesh Chandimal has been declared as Sri Lanka's captain across all three formats with Angelo Matthews dismissed from captaincy following their early exit from the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates

Pic courtesy: Reuters

Dinesh Chandimal has been declared as Sri Lanka's captain across all three formats after Angelo Matthews was dismissed from captaincy in the limited overs format of the game following their exit from the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The 31-year-old Mathews was reappointed as Sri Lanka`s limited-overs skipper in January, six months after he relinquished captaincy for both red and white-ball formats following a home series defeat to Zimbabwe. Mathews, however, was unable to revive the team`s fortunes in his latest stint, which came to an unceremonious end after Sri Lanka crashed out of the ongoing six-nation Asia Cup following first-round defeats by Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"The National Selectors on Sunday decided to appoint Dinesh Chandimal as the ODI captain to lead the team in the upcoming England series," Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement. "Accordingly, they have requested Angelo Mathews to relinquish his duties as the National ODI & T20I captain, with immediate effect."

Big news about the Sri Lankan ODI captaincy on the back of their disappointing Asia Cup performance https://t.co/mlcVxUGEAH pic.twitter.com/wBwTcpkAm2

— ICC (@ICC) September 23, 2018

Sri Lanka have been grappling with a leadership crisis over the last 18 months, during which Upul Tharanga, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera and Thisara Perera have also been tried as ODI captains. Sri Lanka is all set to host England for five one-day internationals, a one-off Twenty20 and three tests with the series all set to kick off from October 10th.