Sri Lanka have sacked one-day captain Dimuth Karunaratne and dropped him and a host of other big names from the squad heading for Bangladesh this week.
Former captains Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal were also dropped, along with Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep. Kusal Perera has been named as the new captain, with Kusal Mendis as his deputy.
Karunaratne, a 33-year-old left-hand batsman, has played 34 ODI matches and scored 767 runs for Sri Lanka. Mathews had featured in 218 ODIs, scored 5,835 runs and claimed 120 wickets. Chandimal has scored 3,698 runs in 149 ODIs.
Sri Lanka Cricket did not say why the players had been dropped but their new selection committee – headed by Pramodya Wickramasinghe – and coach Mickey Arthur have indicated that the squad will be given a fresh look with an eye on the 2023 World Cup.
Out of the 18 players named, only 33-year-old Isuru Udana is older than 31, and just three players are above 30.
The squad is set to leave Sri Lanka for Bangladesh on Sunday and play their first ODI on May 23. The other two matches will be on May 25 and 28.
