The Sri Lankan national cricket captain, Kumar Sangakkara, says he’s resigning as captain of the national team.

In a statement issued through his manager, Sangakkara said he is quitting as one-day international and Twenty20 captain with immediate effect but has offered to continue as Test captain on an interim basis for the forthcoming series with England and Australia if wanted.

Sangakkara, 33, said he had made the decision before this year’s World Cup because he felt that for the 2015 tournament in Australia, a new and younger captain was needed.

Bitterly disappointed

Sangakkara said that as he would be 37 by then, he could not be sure of his place in the team and it should be led by a player approaching his career peak.

He said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the side’s defeat by India in the Cricket World Cup final last Saturday.

Dilshan is seen as a potential replacement

But he said he had reached his decision before that. Sri Lanka now face the quandary of whom to appoint as their next captain well before their next limited-overs match, which is due in late June.

New captain

The all-rounder Angelo Matthews is the name most often cited but he is young – only 23 – and relatively inexperienced.

Another option would be the batting all-rounder, Tilakaratne Dilshan, who scored the highest number of runs in the World Cup and has stood in as captain in the past. But he is older than Sangakkara.