Tillakaratne Dilshan has been appointed captain of Sri Lanka for next month's tour of England - ESPN SRILANKA

 

The all-rounder, 34, will lead the side in all three formats of the game.

He succeeds Kumar Sangakkara, who quit as national skipper in the aftermath of the team's World Cup final defeat to India in April.

The selectors have postponed naming a replacement for Mahela Jayawardene as vice-captain because a number of prospective candidates are injured.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews, 23, has been tipped to take over the role, but he is nursing a side strain suffered during the World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand.

Dilshan has led his country once before, during last June's tour of Zimbabwe, when his team won the final of a one-day tri-series which also featured India.

DILSHAN PROFILE

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• Full name: Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan
• Born: 14 October 1976, Kalutara
• Tests: 66 games, 3,990 runs (average 42.44), 19 wickets (av 33.31)
• One-day internationals: 203 games, 5,456 runs (av 36.61), 62 wickets (av 40.24)
• Twenty20 internationals: 32 games, 758 runs (av 29.15), 4 wickets (av 37.75)

However, he has never previously captained the side in a Test match.

The opening batsman was the leading scorer during the World Cup - which Sri Lanka co-hosted along with India and Bangladesh - with 500 runs at an average of 62.50.

He also took eight wickets at 15.75 with his right-arm off-spin as his side made it to the final before losing by six wickets to India.

His predecessor Sangakkararesigned the captaincy three days after the defeat in Mumbai, citing the need for a younger leader be put in place to guide the side through to the 2015 World Cup.

Sangakkara replaced Jayawardene as captain in March 2009, with the latter reverting to vice-captain.

However, Jayawardene too quit his role in the aftermath of the recent World Cup, after becoming the first player to score a century in the final and end up on the losing side.

The country's four selectors, headed by former national skipper Aravinda de Silva, also resigned after the tournament.

Dilshan is also famous for popularising the "Dilscoop" - a scoop over the wicketkeeper's head - at the ICC World Twenty20 in England in 2009, when Sri Lanka were losing finalists and Dilshan was named as player of the tournament.