The announcement that 32-year-old Dasun Shanaka will no longer be captain of the national side is a significant event for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Shanaka has been replaced as the ODI and T20I captains by Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga, while Dimuth Karunaratne is in charge of the team in the longest format.
Dasun Shanaka spoke up about giving up the captaincy and stressed how crucial it is for Sri Lanka to train one of the young players to be the team’s captain for the upcoming World Cup. The former captain added that he will always be available to the young captain to provide some pearls of wisdom when needed.
“These kids are playing really well, so now would be a good time to depart. I’m always here to help if they need it. Shanaka told Cricbuzz, “I think we need to train someone for the next World Cup, and I personally think that was the finest time. I can provide my suggestions, and they will listen as well.
“It seems like I was never meant to be a captain. Despite my lack of preparation, I managed to secure the captaincy and was delighted to do so. He said, “Nobody knew, and even I didn’t expect to be a captain.”
At the time, nobody was interested in Sri Lankan cricket. Dasun Shanaka
Additionally, Dasun Shanaka discussed how he eventually became the national team’s captain after being selected for the position. He said that because Sri Lanka was losing to every team at the time, nobody was interested in watching cricket in Sri Lanka, and his goal was to start the squad from scratch.
As you can see, nobody was following Sri Lankan cricket at the time. Every team we played was losing to us. My goal was to construct a team with these people, contribute to the team, and remain a cohesive one. And to some extent, we were successful in drawing the community and spectators to the cricket match in Sri Lanka, isn’t that right? Shanaka came to an end.