After the turmoil of last week’s New Zealand ODI series, Sri Lanka’s white ball Captain Dasun Shanaka is likely to be sacked from his position, The Sunday Morning Sports learns.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has last week requested Shanaka to resign from the ODI captaincy, a former Sri Lankan cricketer said on conditions of anonymity. Either Dhananjaya de Silva or Kusal Mendis will get the 50-over captaincy if the selectors go for a youth policy, the same source added.
Meanwhile, Wanindu Hasaranga may be conferred the captaincy in the T20 format, it is learnt. To Shanaka’s detriment is the alleged fact that the other players in the side have not been happy with his attitude, it is understood.
After Sri Lanka lost the ODI series last week against a second-string Kiwi side, there has been intense pressure within the SLC Ex-Co that Shanaka must resign or otherwise must be removed. One of the Vice Presidents had allegedly been extremely angry about the way the team had lost whilst some have in fact argued about the necessity to investigate possible match-fixing, the source said.
It is also understood that some players in the Lankan team, who have been earmarked to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this time, have been upset with the SLC management for organising the tour of New Zealand so that it clashed with IPL 2023 – a decision which had reportedly angered the Indian Cricket Board, the BCCI, which had hinted as a result that henceforth Sri Lankan players would not be selected for the mega-million league.
As a consequence of the humiliating loss in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the 1996 champion and 2007 and 2011 runner-up, will have to play and place in the top two out of 10 in the 2023 12th ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, scheduled to take place in June and July in Zimbabwe.
There, Sri Lanka needs to be among the top two from amongst the West Indies, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Oman, Nepal, and Scotland, which have already been named to play in the event. Two other countries for the qualifiers are yet to be named.