Colombo: All-rounder Dasun Shanaka ready to replace Kusal Perera As captain of Sri Lanka’s limited overs team ahead of the ODI and T20I series against India starting on 13 July.
The 29-year-old, an explosive batsman and fast bowler, will become Sri Lanka’s sixth captain in less than four years after getting the job.
Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Dimuth Karunaratne And Perera had captained the team at some point since the start of 2018.
Shanaka had led the national team when it cleaned up Pakistan in the three-match T20I series in 2019.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, “The captaincy switch is only partly a result of on-field performance.”
“Although Sri Lanka have comfortably lost all three series they played under Perera, he has been replaced by the board and selectors after playing a central role in the contract standoff between the players and the board over the past few months.” stated in the report.
Sri Lankan players’ long-running tussle with the country’s cricket board (SLC) over a national contract came to an end on Wednesday after 29 out of 30 players were signed for the India series.
It is believed that Pereira was the one who “encouraged the group to move on”, while “Shanaka seems to have been the first to agree to the signing. Sri Lanka Crickettour contract”.
“According to some players, the group decided to continue defying the board as early as Tuesday. However, some players – including Shanaka – signed contracts soon after,” the report said.
Under SLC’s performance based salary scheme, 24 key players were offered contracts under four categories.
Only six players were in category A and their annual salary ranged from USD 70,000 to USD 100,000.
The players felt that the scheme lacked transparency and the proposed pay would be much less than the Federation of International Cricket Association (FICA) approved pay scales.
Angelo Mathews, the senior-most in the current crop of players, and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne opted out of the contracts presented on Wednesday morning.
Soon after, Mathews withdrew from the India series citing personal reasons and hinted at retirement.
India will play three ODIs on July 13, 16 and 18 respectively, followed by as many T20 matches on July 21, 23 and 25. All the matches will be played at R Premadasa Stadium here.
The 29-year-old, an explosive batsman and fast bowler, will become Sri Lanka’s sixth captain in less than four years after getting the job.
Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Dimuth Karunaratne And Perera had captained the team at some point since the start of 2018.
Shanaka had led the national team when it cleaned up Pakistan in the three-match T20I series in 2019.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, “The captaincy switch is only partly a result of on-field performance.”
“Although Sri Lanka have comfortably lost all three series they played under Perera, he has been replaced by the board and selectors after playing a central role in the contract standoff between the players and the board over the past few months.” stated in the report.
Sri Lankan players’ long-running tussle with the country’s cricket board (SLC) over a national contract came to an end on Wednesday after 29 out of 30 players were signed for the India series.
It is believed that Pereira was the one who “encouraged the group to move on”, while “Shanaka seems to have been the first to agree to the signing. Sri Lanka Crickettour contract”.
“According to some players, the group decided to continue defying the board as early as Tuesday. However, some players – including Shanaka – signed contracts soon after,” the report said.
Under SLC’s performance based salary scheme, 24 key players were offered contracts under four categories.
Only six players were in category A and their annual salary ranged from USD 70,000 to USD 100,000.
The players felt that the scheme lacked transparency and the proposed pay would be much less than the Federation of International Cricket Association (FICA) approved pay scales.
Angelo Mathews, the senior-most in the current crop of players, and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne opted out of the contracts presented on Wednesday morning.
Soon after, Mathews withdrew from the India series citing personal reasons and hinted at retirement.
India will play three ODIs on July 13, 16 and 18 respectively, followed by as many T20 matches on July 21, 23 and 25. All the matches will be played at R Premadasa Stadium here.
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