Sri Lanka cricket has adopted a turning point with the Chief Selector Upul Tharanga on Wednesday hinting that they are thinking of changing leadership in the form of the cricket team in view of the fact that captain Charith Asalanka has been struggling in form and he was not even present in the ongoing T20I tri-series in Pakistan.
Although no ruling has been given, Tharanga acknowledged that the board would have to come up with the best options, by the time of the next ICC Men T20 World Cup taking place in 2026.
Asalanka, who was made captain in July last year, has not performed in the T20Is at all, with no half-century since October last year. Poor performance in the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 which has seen him score 75 off six innings with an average of 15, added shreds to their worries regarding both his form and his confidence.
This became even greater when Asalanka became ill at the time of the tri-series happening and was flown back home. His unavailability has led to selectors introducing a previous captain Dasun Shanaka who had previously been put in the role of a vice-captain to experiment with new leadership models.
Nevertheless, Tharanga emphasized that there is nothing conclusive regarding a change of captain in the firm, stating that we cannot introduce big changes with a world cup near at hand. We will talk to the coach and make our decisions regarding what is optimal in the team.
The controversy was further enhanced as reported in the media in early parts of this month and it was stated that Asalanka was not leaving Pakistan because he was sick but tension over an incident involving security in Islamabad where he allegedly advised his teammates to pull out of the game. These assertions cast doubt on the cohesion in the team.
Tharanga, however, vehemently denied rumours of disciplinary action, and the captain only came back because of a viral fever which incapacitated the medical staff to know when the captain will recover.
