Dimuth Karunaratne, who didn't play single ODI since 2015, to captain Sri Lanka in ICC World Cup

In a surprise move, Lasith Malinga Wednesday was sacked as ODI skipper of Sri Lanka Cricket team and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne will lead the country in the upcoming ICC World cup in England beginning May 30.

However, the World cup squad will be announced Thursday, SLC said.

"Karunaratne's appointment was ratified by the Minister of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment and Sports Honorable Harin Fernando," Sri Lanka Cricket said in a release.

The 31-year-old Karunaratne, who didn't play a single ODI since the 2015 World Cup, has only featured in 17 ODIs and averages 15.83 with a high score of 60.

He will replace Malinga, who had captained the team during the 0-5 loss to South Africa in the ODI series.

Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to a World T20 trophy in 2014, had personal disagreements with the team management and certain senior players, which also soured his stint as captain.

Karunaratne, who is a Test opener, led Sri Lanka to a historic 2-0 Test triumph in South Africa and made Sri Lanka the only Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa.