Rangana Herath was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lanka team for its Zimbabwe tour due to captain Angelo Mathews's injury.
At the age of 38 years and seven months, Herath will be one of the oldest Test captains in the Test cricket world. However, he will not be the oldest Sri Lankan player to debut as a captain.
This honor belongs to another spinner, Dandeniyage Somachandra de Silva, commonly known as D.S. de Silva.
Born on June 11, 1942, De Silva was unfortunate that he was already nearly 40 years old when Sri Lanka attained Test status. If he was younger, he would have played more matches and reached the level of fame he was due. A versatile leg spinner with a well disguised 'wrong one' in his armory, de Silva was a thorn of the the side on any batting side.
In the 1982-83 tour of New Zealand, de Silva was asked to take the responsibility as the captain of the side, when Duleep Mendis was injured. When the first test was played, he was 40 years and 268 days old. New Zealand won the series 2-0 where Sri Lanka had a difficult time, partly due to unfavorable conditions and partly due to their own shortcomings, especially in the field.
D.S. de Silva ended his Test career in 1984, after the first and only Test against England at Lord's. His last ODI was in 1985.
He later served as a coach of the national side and a Chairman of an interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket.