Never-Ending Captaincy Dilemma

July 14, 2021 at 7:08 PM


Dasun Shanaka is all set to make his ODI captaincy debut for Sri Lanka on Sunday (18), when the home team faces off against the Indians in the first ODI, kicking off India’s limited overs tour of Sri Lanka.

A ‘New captain’ is not something new for Sri Lanka Cricket in the recent past. Since the start of 2017, 9 players have captained Sri Lanka in ODIs. Shanaka will be the 10th.

 

Shanaka, who famously lead an inexperienced group of players in Pakistan to beat the strong home side 3-0 in a T20 series back in 2019 is not new for captaincy duties. Back then, he earned respect from fans and critics alike for his leadership abilities. However, his upcoming assignment will be the real litmus test.

Kusal Janith Perera, who was appointed as captain for the Bangladesh ODI series carried the leadership to the limited overs series to England. Little did he know that it will be the last series he would captain the side – until God knows when.

Both Kusal’s appointment and sacking comes in very strange circumstances.

His appointment initially raised eyebrows as he replaced a somewhat settled Dimuth Karunaratne as the ODI skipper. Dimuth has a win percentage of 58.8% with 10 wins in 17 matches as captain. In normal circumstances, it doesn’t sound like an achievement that requires a sacking, but hey this is Sri Lanka Cricket.

Justifying Dimuth’s sacking and Kusal’s appointment, Chief selector Pramodya Wickramasingha said that they are looking to building a young team targeting the 2023 World Cup, while overlooking most of the seniors – only based on ‘age’ and not entirely on numbers.

Kusal’s sacking from captaincy comes under even stranger circumstances. Less than a day after head coach Mickey Arthur praised KJP’s captaincy in trying English conditions, news surfaced of Perera’s axing and Shanaka replacing him.

“Kusal Janith led the team very, very well in very trying times” Mickey Arthur

It is unfortunate to learn that this too is not done purely based on Merit, but based on alliance with SLC. Kusal is understood to have played a central role representing the players, in the contract dispute between players and the administration, while Shanaka is learnt to be one of the first few to sign contracts after arriving from England, effectively ending the feud.

There is no doubt, that these impromptu changes in leadership are affecting the team negatively. Especially when the captains are changed based on ‘other’ issues, rather than their performance as a player and the ability to lead.

For the sake of Cricket, players, ex players and administrators alike should now focus on the immediate challenge of putting up a team to ‘compete’ against top teams in World Cricket. For a starter, they need to settle down with a leader, who can gain the trust and respect of rest of the players.

Forgetting the seemingly never-ending captaincy dilemma for now, let’s wish Dasun Shanaka all the best on his new role. Let’s hope at least he can become that leader, whom the next generation of cricketers can rally around.