Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva has stepped down with immediate effect. A few hours after de Silva announced his relinquishment of the Test captaincy, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) appointed Kusal Mendis as the new Test captain. The 35-year-old de Silva led Sri Lanka in 18 Tests between 2024 and 2026, winning seven, losing eight, and drawing three. He confirmed that he will remain available for selection as a player. “It’s my genuine opinion that the mantle should go down to the next generation,” de Silva said in a letter addressed to the SLC selection committee. “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes him the very best for the remainder of his career and thanks him for the leadership he provided to our Test team,” said Ashley de Silva, CEO of the SLC. Meanwhile, Mendis’ first assignment as Test captain will be the two-match Test series against Pakistan, part of the ongoing WTC cycle, which begins on November 9. Mendis, who is also the T20I and ODI captain of Sri Lanka, will be in action in the three T20Is against Pakistan which begins on October 9. Mendis, who has played 75 Tests, along with 159 ODIs and 109 T20Is, will captain Sri Lanka in the five-day format for the first time. He has led Sri Lanka in 22 ODIs while he began his T20I captaincy stint in June this year in the three-match series against the West Indies.
