Sri Lanka's most outstanding achievement in One Day Internationalwas in 1996 when they won the Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. This was the transforming year for the Sri Lanka national cricket team as they won the World Cup for the very first time. After there will Sri Lanka produced many great players and dedicated captains who made Sri Lanka proud of itself in the world of cricket. Here are the top 10 best captains of the Sri Lanka national cricket team-
10. Aravinda De Silva
Aravinda De Silva is the former batsman and the captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is the only cricketer who scored a century and took 2-3 wickets in the world cup final. He is the very first man to made unbeaten centuries in a Test match that is 138 and 103 runs against Pakistan in the 1990s.
9. Dinesh Chandimal
Dinesh Chandimal is a professional cricketer and the captain of all formats of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. Chandimal is the first captain who captained the Sri Lankan national cricket team in their first day-night Test match. He is the only one behind the trophy of the T20 World Cup of 2014; he always shows his determination spirit and also has a very kind and calm nature.
8. Dimuth Karunaratne
Dimuth Karunaratne is a professional cricketer and current captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team in both Test matches and One Day International matches. He was nicknamed "Dimma." He was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team of Test matches for their series against South Africa in February 2019, and in April 2019, he was appointed as the captain of the ODI team of Sri Lanka.
7. Tillakaratne Dilshan
Tillakaratne Dilshan is a former cricketer and captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team, he is one of the most avant-garde ODI batsmen of all time, he is the rare example of a player with significant skills in all aspects of the game who can bat, bowl, field, and keep wicket. In 1999, he made his Test and ODI debut during the Sri Lankan national cricket team’s tour to Zimbabwe.
6. Arjun Ranatunga
In 1988, Arjun Ranatunga was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team, he captained the Sri Lankan cricket team for a term of eleven years. After putting in great efforts he led the Sri Lankan national cricket team to another level, from a weak defeated team to a competitive and successful one.
5. Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene is one of the most successful captains of the Sri Lankan national cricket team along with Sanath Jayasuriya. He is one of the best batsmen on the Sri Lankan cricket team ever had and he is a great role model for all upcoming young generation cricketers. The former cricketer has taken Sri Lankan national cricket team to many milestones in all the formats of the game.
4. Angelo Mathews
Angelo Mathews was eventually made the captain of One Day International matches and Test matches in February 2013. Mathew's captaincy was in the limelight in the year 2014, where the Sri Lankan cricket team won many bilateral ODI series and also the Asia Cup of 2014. That year was very gracious for him as he becme the most successful ODI captain with 20 wins out of 32 matches with a winning percentage of 62.50%.
3. Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Atapattu acquired the position of captain of the One-Day International matches of the Sri Lankan national cricket team in April 2003. He made his highest Test score of 249 runs against Zimbabwe in 2004. He has scored six double tons in Test Cricket for Sri Lanka and he made 8529 runs in One Day International matches.
2. Kumar Sangkarra
Kumar Sangakkara is one of the admiring batsmen in the history of cricket. Sangakarra certainly is also a good wicketkeeper, and a fine leading Captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He was the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 2009 to 2011. Under his captainship, Sri Lanka won 27 One-Day Internationals out of 45 matches.
1. Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Jayasuriya is one of the greatest striking batsmen of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. Jayasuriya is famous for his match-winning all-rounder thinking in ODI matches. Under his captainship, the team has won 66 matches and lost 47 with a winning percentage of 58.26. He made a record of 13,430 runs in One-Day Internationals at a remarkable strike rate of 91.2.
