Wanindu Hasaranga quits Sri Lanka cricket as captain after T20 World Cup debacle
Published - 11 Jul 2024, 06:38 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:15 AM
In the wake of Sri Lanka's dismal show in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 last month, Wanindu Hasaranga has resigned as the T20I captain.
The Islanders exited the tournament at the group stage. They were drawn in Group D alongside South Africa, Bangladesh, Netherlands and Nepal. The Wanindu Hasaranga-led side was one of the favourites to progress ahead of the group stage. However, they failed to live up to the expectations and bowed out of the competition at the first stage itself.
Sri Lanka began their campaign in the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup in a humiliating fashion. They were bowled out for just 77 runs against South Africa and lost the game by six wickets. In their second game, they suffered a 2-wicket loss against Bangladesh as their batters failed to deliver for the second game in a row.
They were eliminated from the tournament after their third group game against Nepal was washed out. In their final group game, Sri Lanka had defeated the Netherlands by 83 runs.
Wanindu Hasaranga resigns:
Days after the humiliating exit from the T20 World Cup, Wanindu Hasaranga has stepped down as Sri Lanka's T20I captain. The spin-bowling allrounder failed to lead his team from the front in the tournament as Sri Lanka failed to do well in yet another ICC competition.
“Sri Lanka will always have my utmost best efforts as a player, and I will support and stand by my team and leadership as always,” Hasaranga wrote in his resignation letter to SLC.
In the first two games, Wanindu Hasaranga could not even open his account although he picked up 2 wickets in each of the games. In the third game against the Netherlands, he scored an unbeaten 20 and picked up 2 more wickets.
Wanindu Hasaranga was appointed as Sri Lanka's T20I captain in December last year after Dasun Shanaka was sacked as the white-ball captain. The spinner led Sri Lanka in a total of 10 T20Is and picked up 19 wickets while scoring 137 runs. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka won the home series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan earlier this year.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is expected to announce the new T20I captain soon as they will be taking on India in a three-match T20I series later this month. The series against the world T20I champions is scheduled to begin on July 26.
