Sri Lanka have announced their 25-man preliminary squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 and have also made a major change of leadership, with Dasun Shanaka replacing Charit Asalanga as the captain.
The leadership change comes after Sri Lanka’s recent tour to Pakistan, where Asalanga led his team during the first two ODIs before returning home midway through.
Gusal Mendis replaced Asalanga as captain in the third ODI against Pakistan, while Shanaka led the team during the T20I tri-series, which also included Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka advanced to the final of the tri-series where they lost to hosts Pakistan.
Chief selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe said that the decision to appoint Dasun Shanaga as the captain was taken after discussions with chief coach Sanath Jayasuriya and high performance chief Jerome Jayaratne.
Wickramasinghe said on Friday that it was after talking to head coach Sanath Jayasuriya that we decided to keep Dasun Shanaka as captain till the end of the World Cup.
“The previous committee selected a list of 25 players. We spoke to the head of high performance, Jerome Jayarathne and Sanath Jayasuriya. We decided to announce the same 25 as the preliminary squad for the World Cup.”
Asalanga, who was named Sri Lanka’s captain in mid-2024, is still in the starting T20 World Cup squad despite being removed from the captaincy.
Sri Lanka Starting Team:
Dasun Shanaka (catch), Pathum Nissanga, Kusal Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Janith Lienake, Sarith Asalanga, Kamindu Mendis, Pawan Ratnayake, Sahan Arachike, Vanindu Hazaralanka, Dunith Rathalanga, E. Malinga, Dushmantha Sameera, Pramod Madhushan, Madisha Patirana, Dilshan Madushanga, Mahesh Dikshana, Dushan Hemantha, Vijayakanth Vyaskanth, Traveen Mathew
Sri Lanka’s Group Stage Matches:
February 8: v Ireland, Colombo
February 12: v Oman, Pallekele
February 16: vs Australia, Pallekele
February 19: v Zimbabwe, Colombo