Kusal Perera likely to replace Dimuth Karunaratne as Sri Lanka's ODI skipper

Sri Lanka is greasing up for some massive changes in their cricket teams across all the formats in international cricket. The selectors are considering the idea of building a new and young One Day squad to bounce back stronger after the island nation was clean swept by West Indies in the three-match ODI series.

In the latest turn of events, it is speculated that the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) can drop a number of senior cricketers from the side including the likes of Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Lahiru Thirimanne. The same resulted in Thisara Perera announcing his retirement from international cricket. 

The reports now state that Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain in Test and One Day International, can be sacked as an ODI skipper as SLC is planning to make a change in the leadership group. The 30-year-old batsman Kusal Perera is likely to replace Karunaratne as the new leader of the side in the 50-over format.

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Kusal Mendis can be handed the responsibility of being the vice-captain and a deputy to Perera. However, no change is expected in the T20I leadership group as Dasun Shanaka is set to remain, T20 skipper. 

The selectors want to give opportunities to the young players: SLC source

“We are focusing on the 2023 World Cup and this is a good learning experience for the players. We want to groom a new captain and most probably Kudal Mendis is tipped to be the new Vice-Captain. We want to give him that confidence by naming him as the vice-captain,” an official close to Sri Lanka Cricket told Daily News Sri Lanka. 

Further, the source also opened up on the sacking of the senior players from the side stating that the selectors want the young rookies to step up and take the responsibility to carry the game forward. It is speculated that Sri Lanka can hand a debut to as many as four cricketers for the three-match One Day series against Bangladesh.

“The selectors want to give opportunities to the young players, so it’s likely that several senior players will get dropped from the side. Our aim is to set up shadow players for the national team and especially to focus on the 2023 World Cup” the source added. 

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