Sri Lanka chief selector hints at Charith Asalanka's removal as T20I captain

KARACHI: Sri Lanka Chief Selector Upul Tharanga on Wednesday hinted at the dismissal of Charith Asalanka as their men's team's T20I captain, stating that the former champions will have to explore "best options" after the ongoing tri-series in Pakistan.

Asalanka, who assumed the role in July last year, has been under scrutiny due to his dismal form in the shortest format, having been unable to score a half-century since his 59-run knock against West Indies in October last year.

His lean patch with the bat continued in the ACC Men's T20 Asia Cup 2025, during which he mustered 75 runs in six innings at a modest average of 15.

The dip in Asalanka's form ultimately forced Sri Lanka selectors to mull changes heading into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, but their head Tharanga remained hesitant in making radical calls.

"We have to weigh our best options after this series," said Tharanga, when asked whether the selectors were considering a change in captaincy.

"With a World Cup so close we can't make a lot of big changes. The selectors, after talking to the coach, will have to make a decision on what's best for the team."

Adding to his woes, Asalanka got ill and was subsequently ruled out of the ongoing T20I tri-series against hosts Pakistan and Zimbabwe, prompting Sri Lanka to bring in former captain and experienced all-rounder Dasun Shanaka to take up the leadership role.

Tharanga revealed that Shanaka was appointed the vice-captain ahead of their white-ball tour to Pakistan as part of their plans to explore leadership options, but reiterated that Asalanka is their captain as of now and no "firm decision" has been made yet.

"That was to give us another option," Tharanga said on Shanaka's appointment as vice-captain.

"Still Charith is our captain. It's because of an illness to Charith that we appointed Dasun as our stand-in captain. Charith is still the captain in our plans. We haven't made a decision to change that. We've planned all along for Charith to captain this World Cup. We'll see what happens. We haven't made a decision about that yet," he added.

Earlier this month, reports within Sri Lankan media suggested that Asalanka's departure from Pakistan midway through the white-ball tour was not due to illness but he was instead called back by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in a potential disciplinary action.

For the unversed, Asalanka reportedly encouraged some players to consider withdrawing from the ongoing tri-nation series following a blast in Islamabad.

He further advised teammates to rethink participating in the tour due to heightened security concerns.

The reports further suggested that Asalanka's behaviour during the situation raised concerns over unity in the Sri Lanka team and thus could be removed from captaincy.

However, Tharanga asserted that Charith Asalanka's departure from Pakistan was solely due to his illness, claiming that the physio was unable to predict the timeframe of his recovery, which forced them to fly him back to Sri Lanka.

"Charith hasn't been among the runs in T20s, and because of an illness he was forced to return home, unfortunately," Tharanga stated.

"He had a viral fever, and he had body aches," Tharanga said of Asalanka. "The physio told us that it's hard for him to predict when Charith would get better, and that's why we had to make that decision.

"We've also had a problem in the middle order, and we've not been consistent there. If he couldn't play, we needed to have someone else there. That's why we brought Charith to Sri Lanka."