COLOMBO: Sri Lanka named Kusal Perera as their new One-day International (ODI) captain on Wednesday, dropping former skippers Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in a major team overhaul with an eye on the 2023 World Cup in India.

Under the 33-year-old Karunaratne, who remains their Test captain, Sri Lanka were blanked 3-0 in West Indies in March this year though few expected him to be sacked.

The new selection committee, led by former Test seamer Pramodya Wickramasinghe, also took the bold step of dropping veteran all-rounder Mathews from an 18-member squad for the three-match series in Bangladesh later this month.

Among other big names to get the axe were pace duo of Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep.

The selectors decided to invest in youth to prepare a more aggressive team for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka Cricket said on its website.

Karunaratne has played 34 ODI matches and scored 767 runs for Sri Lanka. Mathews had featured in 218 ODIs, scored 5,835 runs and claimed 120 wickets. Chandimal has scored 3,698 runs in 149 ODIs.

Kusal Mendis was recalled as deputy to Perera, who will be Sri Lanka’s ninth one-day captain in the last five years.

The squad is to leave Sri Lanka for Bangladesh on Sunday and play their first ODI on May 23. The other two matches will be on May 25 and 28.

Squad: Kusal Perera (captain), Kusal Mendis (vice-captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Dasun Shanaka, Ashen Bandara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Niroshan Dickwella, Dushmantha Chameera, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021