Angelo Mathews named as Sri Lanka's limited-overs captain

Colombo: All-rounder Angelo Mathews has been reappointed as the captain of Sri Lanka's limited-overs side, less than six months after stepping down from the post.

The shift in captaincy comes in less than two months after Thisara Perera was named as Sri Lanka's skipper for the ODI and T20I matches against India in November 2017, replacing Upul Tharanga.

The change came due to poor performance and whitewash losses under Tharanga's captaincy.

Earlier, Mathews had stepped down from the position following the loss against Zimbabwe in July last year, while Dinesh Chandimal, who is currently spearheading the Test team, has not consistently held a place in the playing XI for ODIs.

And now Mathews, who earlier led the team in all formats, agreed to once again lead the team in the white-ball format, following a request made by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Thilanga Sumathipala.

"I invited Angelo to reconsider and accept the captaincy once again, further to the lengthy discussions I had with the Head Coach, Selectors and the Management of the SLC," said Sumathipala.

The upcoming tri-nation ODI series featuring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will be Mathew's first assignment as the captain, while Chandimal will continue to lead the Test team.

The tri-series will begin on January 15 and run until January 27.