Upul Tharanga, a former Sri Lankan cricket player and current chief selector of Sri Lanka Cricket, has revealed that Charith Asalanka‘s captaincy of the T20I side may be revoked by the board. The 2026 T20 World Cup, which will take place from February 7 to March 8, will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India.
Although Tharanga did not state that Asalanka would undoubtedly be dismissed, he did allude to a possible modification should the selection committee approve it soon.
“After this series, we must consider our best options. We can’t make many significant adjustments when the World Cup is so close. According to ESPNcricinfo, Asalanka said, “The selectors will have to decide what’s best for the team after speaking with the coach.”
The former left-handed batter also explained why Dasun Shanaka was selected as the Lankan team’s backup skipper for the current T20I tri-nation series in Pakistan when Asalanka was not available. Additionally, he acknowledged that in T20Is, the batting all-rounder had fallen short of expectations.
“Our captain is still Charith Asalanka. Because of his illness, we chose Dasun to be our captain in lieu of him. In our intentions, Charith Asalanka remains the skipper. We have not decided to alter it. Charith Asalanka has always been our choice to captain this World Cup. We’ll wait and see. We still haven’t decided on it.
Charith Asalanka hasn’t contributed to the T20I runs, and he had to go back home due to an illness,” he continued.
Despite all of the conjecture around his T20I captaincy, Tharanga clarified that Asalanka will be included in the preparations for the massive event that will take place the next year.
“Charith Asalanka is a very skilled and seasoned cricket player. He will undoubtedly play a significant role for Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup. He has demonstrated his abilities in the middle order, where he has occasionally won matches by himself. We have him in our World Cup plans,” Tharanga said.
Regarding Charith Asalanka T20I record, he has amassed 1357 runs with a strike rate of 126.35 in 70 games. In the 20-over format, he has bowled sparingly and claimed seven wickets at an economy rate of 7.98.
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