Dhananjaya de Silva steps down as Sri Lanka Test captain, writes to selectors

Sri Lanka Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva has stepped down from the captaincy. He announced his resignation on Thursday, saying it was time to hand over the leadership to the next generation. His resignation has come into effect immediately.

The 35-year-old conveyed his decision in a letter to the Sri Lanka Cricket selection committee. In the letter, he said the responsibility should now go to a new player. Though he has given up the captaincy, de Silva remains available for selection as a player. It is learnt that the Sri Lanka Cricket CEO has accepted his decision and wished him well for the future.

De Silva took over the Test captaincy from Dimuth Karunaratne in January 2024. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka played 18 Tests and won seven of them. As captain, de Silva scored 1,130 runs and also took nine wickets. His batting during this period was also impressive.

On his career so far, de Silva has played all three formats for Sri Lanka. He made his debut in 2015 in T20 internationals. He then got the opportunity to play ODIs and Tests, and his career has run for about 11 years.

In Tests, de Silva has played 69 matches for Sri Lanka, scoring 4,431 runs with 13 centuries and 20 half-centuries. In ODIs, he has 93 matches and 1,924 runs with 10 half-centuries. In T20 internationals, he has played 48 matches and scored 890 runs with three half-centuries.

Sri Lanka Cricket has not yet announced the name of the new captain. Two Tests against Pakistan are scheduled for November as part of the World Test Championship. Sri Lanka will take the field in the series under a new captain, and the series will be an important one. It is being said that Kusal Mendis may be handed the captaincy.