Upul Tharanga weighs on Sri Lanka captaincy change ahead of 2026 T20 WC

New Delhi: Just two months before co-hosting the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka may undergo a dramatic captaincy change. Chief selector Upul Tharanga has confirmed that the panel is actively looking at alternatives to captain Charith Asalanka, who is currently under pressure.

Tharanga highlighted that "no decision" had been taken, despite Asalanka's underwhelming performance and his early withdrawal from the ongoing tri-series in Pakistan, which has sparked rumours regarding his future.

“We have to weigh our best options after this series,” Tharanga told ESPNcricinfo when asked if Sri Lanka were contemplating a switch in leadership. “With a World Cup so close we can't make a lot of big changes. The selectors, after talking to the coach, will have to make a decision on what's best for the team.”

Tharanga stated that Asalanka's return from Pakistan last week was not the beginning of discussions about a new captain. He disclosed that the selection of Dasun Shanaka, the former white-ball captain of Sri Lanka, as the tour's vice captain was intentional. "That was to give us another option."

Rumours that Asalanka's mid-series flight back to Colombo was disciplinary spread quickly, especially in light of reports that some players felt uneasy staying in Pakistan after a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

However, Tharanga rejected these theories, maintaining that it was only a medical problem. “Still Charith is our captain,” he said. “It’s because of an illness to Charith that we appointed Dasun as our stand-in captain. Charith is still the captain in our plans. We haven't made a decision to change that. We've planned all along for Charith to captain this World Cup. We'll see what happens. We haven't made a decision about that yet.”

Explaining the situation further, Tharanga stressed that Asalanka’s condition made it impossible for the team to keep waiting for a recovery. “He had a viral fever, and he had body aches,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “The physio told us that it's hard for him to predict when Charith would get better, and that's why we had to make that decision.” IANS

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