Shanaka first captained Sri Lanka in 2019, on the team's first tour to Pakistan since the 2009 Lahore attack, but it was not until 2021 that he became their regular captain. Under him, Sri Lanka won 23 out of 41 ODIs and 22 out of 48 T20Is. The highlight of his tenure was the 2022 T20 Asia Cup victory in the UAE where Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the final.

Also notable were ODI series wins against South Africa and Australia, and a T20I series win against India at home, all at home. Shanaka also oversaw Sri Lanka's unbeaten run through the 2023 World Cup Qualifier. But all these achievements were interspersed with poor showings in the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup.

However, it was his poor form with the bat, primarily in ODIs, that put him under the most scrutiny and made people question his place in the side. As such, it was widely expected that the new selection committee would look elsewhere in terms of the captaincy.

His replacements, Mendis and Hasaranga, both have recent experience in leadership roles. Mendis is a former Under-19 captain and the current skipper of Dambulla Aura in the LPL. Midway through the 2023 ODI World Cup, he took over the reins from Shanaka when the latter got injured. Hasaranga, who is currently recovering from a hamstring surgery, had earlier this year led B-Love Kandy to their inaugural LPL title.

Shanaka may still play a role in Sri Lanka's white-ball set-ups after he was named in the preliminary squads for the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe at home in January.