Lasith Malinga is battling a nagging knee injury © AFP
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced that Lasith Malinga was stepping down as captain of their World T20 side on Tuesday (March 8) and Angelo Mathews would instead skipper the team in the tournament in India.
"Angelo Mathews is going to be captain and (Dinesh) Chandimal will be vice captain," Mohan de Silva, secretary of SLC, told reporters in Colombo.
"Malinga will be in the squad. He is only stepping down from the captaincy, but he has offered himself for selection after the 15th because he is undergoing some treatment here."
Malinga played a crucial role in Sri Lanka reaching two World T20 finals (in 2009 and 2012), before ultimately becoming the World T20 champions in 2014. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka were also briefly ranked as the number one ranked T20I team in the ICC rankings.
The new panel of selectors have also announced the final 15-man team for the upcoming World T20, scheduled to be held in India, starting with the qualifying rounds, from March 8. Lahiru Thirimanne returns to the T20I team for the first time since May, 2014 and Suranga Lakmal, who missed the three-match T20I series against India, has also been named.
Wicket-keeper batsman, Niroshan Dickwella and leg-spinner, Jeffrey Vandersay, are the two players making way for them, from the originally named 15-member squad for the tournament.
The defending champions begin their pursuit for another world title with a match against a qualifier at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on March 17.
Sri Lanka Squad: Angelo Mathews (c), Dinesh Chandimal (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shehan Jayasuriya, Lahiru Thirimanne, Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun Shanuka, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dushmantha Chameera, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal
via- Cricbuzz
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