Malinga is Sri Lanka's new T20 skipper, Chandimal gets axe

Paceman Lasith Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to World Twenty20 title in Bangladesh, has been rewarded with the captaincy in the shortest format as struggling batsman Dinesh Chandimal got the axe today.

Chandimal orginally was the captain of the side but Malinga had led the team in the final three games, including the summit clash, as stand-in-skipper in their successful campaign.

Chandimal, who at 23 became Sri Lanka's youngest captain in any format last year, has seen a dip in his batting form during the World T20.

Left-hand batsman Lahiru Thirimanna has been appointed as Malinga's deputy and will also be vice-captain in the Test and ODI team under skipper Angelo Mathews. The World T20 win became Sri Lanka's first major international title since they won the World Cup in 1996 under Arjuna Ranatunga.

The SLC sources added that the current contract dispute with the national squad would soon be over as the players had agreed to a new payment formula for annual contracts.

The players have expressed willingness to accept 10 per cent from the ICC revenues derived by the SLC. A dispute arose as players demanded 20 per cent and refused to enter contracts.

The SLC subsequently came up with an incentive-based pay with around seven per cent increase over previous contract fees which also would have meant players garnering around 12 per cent from the ICC revenues.

The players though stood their ground even as the team departed for Bangladesh to play in the World T20 without annual contracts.