Dilshan quits as Sri Lankan captain

SPORTS STAFF | 24 January, 2012 00:571 Comments

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 22, Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka walks off for 41 runs during the 5th ODI match between South Africa and Sri Lanka from Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on January 22, 2012 in Johannesburg, South AfricaPhoto by Duif du Toit / Gallo Images
Image by: Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

Save & Share

The fallout in Sri Lankan cricket following the defeats by South Africa in the tests and ODIs continued yesterday.

A day after Geoff Marsh was replaced by South Africa's Graham Ford as coach, Tillakaratne Dilshan quit as the team captain.

Mahela Jayawardene is expected to be offered the captaincy, but has said he would take some time to consider this.

The change of coach and captain comes less than a week after a new selection committee was appointed under the chairmanship of former Sri Lanka fast bowler Ashantha de Mel.

The committee was appointed by Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and is likely to lead to a "new broom" approach to cricket on the island.

Aluthgamage said it was the "responsibility of the Sri Lankan government and the sports ministry" to take "stern and appropriate action" to ensure Sri Lanka becomes "the No1 team in the world".

Upali Dharmadasa, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket, was told by the government to submit a report on the team's poor performances since the 2011 World Cup where they lost to India in the final.

The team's struggling form goes back to July 2010 with the retirement of spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. They have won only one test in the last 18 months - their maiden victory in South Africa, when they beat the Proteas at Kingsmead in the Boxing Day test. They have lost one-day series to England, Australia, Pakistan, and, most recently, South Africa.

Dilshan was appointed to lead the team after the 2011 World Cup in one of Sri Lanka's typical captaincy merry-go-rounds.

He took over from Kumar Sangakkara, who scored a match-winning century against South Africa at the Wanderers on Sunday in the final ODI of the series.

Since his accession to the captaincy, Dilshan led Sri Lanka to England where they lost the test series 1-0, against Pakistan, losing the tests 1-0 and ODIs 4-1, and Australia, losing the tests 1-0 and ODIs 3-2.

Dilshan's batting suffered during his 11 tests in charge since May 2011. His test average dropped from 40.89 to 33.60 and ODI average from 34.68 to 20.95.