COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board appointed Kusal Mendis as the new Test captain on Thursday, replacing Dhananjaya de Silva, who stepped down ahead of selection for next month’s two-match series against Pakistan.
The upcoming Test series will be Mendis’s first assignment as national skipper, Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.
The 31-year-old played his first Test in 2015 against West Indies in Colombo. He has played 75 Tests and scored 4,836 runs.
De Silva said he would still be available for selection and would remain with the team, but was giving up the captaincy with immediate effect.
“It’s my genuine opinion that the mantle should go down to the next generation,” de Silva, 35, said in a letter addressed to the selectors.
De Silva, a middle-order batter, has played 69 Tests since making his debut against Australia in 2016. He has scored 4,431 runs and taken 43 wickets in the longest format of the game.
He has not been included in T20 and ODI teams since January, when Sri Lanka hosted England.
The first Test against Pakistan will be played in Rawalpindi from Nov 9, and the second is due in Lahore from Nov 17.
Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2026
