Kusal Mendis named Sri Lanka Test captain after Dhananjaya de Silva steps down
Kusal Mendis succeeds Dhananjaya de Silva as Sri Lanka's Test captain ahead of Pakistan tour.
Kusal Mendis will take over as Sri Lanka's Test captain after Dhananjaya de Silva resigned on Thursday. Mendis, already the white-ball skipper, has played 75 Tests and scored 4,836 runs at an average of 36.36.
De Silva led Sri Lanka in 18 Tests since January 2024 and won seven of them. He said the role should now pass to the next generation. Sri Lanka sit seventh in the World Test Championship table after series defeats in the West Indies and at home to India.
Mendis's first assignment is the two-Test series in Pakistan that begins in Rawalpindi on November 9. De Silva remains available for selection.
CricHubb Take
Mendis's appointment ends the brief experiment of handing the Test captaincy to a specialist all-rounder and returns it to a senior batter.