Sri Lankan cricket makes changes

Sri Lanka's cricket selectors on Wednesday sacked Dinesh Chandimal as Twenty20 captain and replaced him with Lasith Malinga, while Angelo Mathews was retained as the Test and one-day skipper.

Chandimal, 24, opted out of the last three matches, including the semi-final and final, of the recent World Twenty20 in Bangladesh due to poor batting form, leaving Malinga in charge.

Sri Lanka went on to beat the West Indies in the semi-final and India in the final to win their first major title since 1996 when they bagged the 50-over World Cup.

All-rounder Mathews was retained as the Test and one-day captain till the end of next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, a release from Sri Lanka Cricket said.

Lahiru Thirimanne, a 24-year-old left-hand batsman, was promoted to vice-captain in all three formats, the release added.

Sri Lanka have yet to appoint a new coach after Englishman Paul Farbrace resigned on Tuesday to take up a possible assignment with England.

Farbrace, 46, has been linked to the post of assistant coach to Peter Moores, who was named England's chief coach last week replacing Zimbabwean Andy Flower.

In a statement on their website, Sri Lanka Cricket said: "The National Coach Paul Farbrace tendered his resignation and has indicated to SLC of his unavailability to continue with SLC with immediate effect in order to take up an appointment with the ECB."

Sri Lanka are due to play two one-day matches against Ireland in Dublin early next month ahead of a tour of England that comprises one T20 international, five one-dayers and two Tests.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's National Selectors selected the following players for the tour of Ireland this year;

Angelo Mathews (Captain)

Kusal Janith

Upul Tharanga

Lahiru Thirimanne (Vice Captain)

Dinesh Chandimal

Ashan Priyanjana

Kithruwan Vithanage

Chathuranga De Silva

Sachithra Senanayake

Thissara Perera

Nuwan Kulasekara

Suranga Lakmal

Dhammika Prasad

Ajantha Mendis

Niroshan Dickwella

And here's the squad for T20 portion of tour of England

Lasith Malinga (Captain)

Lahiru Thirimanne (V.Captain)

Kusal Janith

T.M Dilshan

Angelo Mathews

Dinesh Chandimal

Kithruwan Vithanage

Ashan Priyanjana

Thissara Perera

Nuwan Kulasekara

Chathuranga De silva

Sachithra Senanayake

Suranga Lakmal

Seekuge Prasanna

Ajantha Mendis

Below: Sri Lanka welcomed home after their World T20 triumph