Lasith Malinga appointed Sri Lanka skipper in T20 format till May 2015

Lasith Malinga

Following the T20 World Cup win in Bangladesh, Lasith Malinga, who captained the side in the all-important semi finals and finals, has been handed over the T20 captaincy till March 2015.

Dinesh Chandimal, who was appointed the captain before the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh, has been asked to step down and focus on his batting which has been on a downward spiral of late in the limited overs formats. Chandimal was suspended for Sri Lanka’s last group game against New Zealand at the World T20, which forced Malinga to take charge.

Chandimal then reportedly dropped himself due to a lack of form and Malinga captained the side to a historic win at the tournament.

The other big change in the Sri Lankan set up has come with the announcement of batsman Lahiru Thirimanne’s appointment as vice-captain across all the three formats till March 2015.

Angelo Matthews, meanwhile, remains the skipper of the One Day International (ODI) and Test sides and is expected to lead the limited overs side at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Sri Lanka will travel to the United Kingdom in May for 2 ODIs against Ireland following which they will play five ODIs, one T20 and two Tests against England.