Sangakkara Appointed Sri Lanka Captain For T20 WC

Colombo: Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed Sri Lanka captain, selectors confirmed on Wednesday.

Sangakkara, 31, the vice-captain since 2006, was the obvious heir apparent to Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped down after the recent Pakistan tour which was abandoned when gunmen attacked the team bus on the way to the stadium in Lahore.

Six players were injured and seven Pakistanis killed in the incident.

Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been appointed as Sangakkara's deputy.

Sangakkara's first tournament in charge will be the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June.

The selectors have also finalised a provisional 25-member squad for the tournament.

The final 15 will be picked after an Inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament which will be held from March 25 to April 5.

Sri Lanka provisional World Twenty20 squad: Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Muttiah Muralitharan (vc), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushal Weeraratne, Upul Tharanga, Isuru Udana, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa, Gihan Rupasinghe, Thilina Kandamby, Malinga Bandara, Dilhara Fernando.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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