Defending champions Sri Lanka announced Lasith Malinga was stepping down as captain of their World T20 side Tuesday and Angelo Mathews would instead skipper the team in the tournament in India.

"Angelo Mathews is going to be captain and (Dinesh) Chandimal will be vice captain," Mohan de Silva, secretary the Sri Lanka cricket board, told reporters in Colombo.

"Malinga will be in the squad. He is only stepping down from the captaincy, but he has offered himself for selection after the 15th because he is undergoing some treatment here."

The Sri Lankan team think-tank made late changes to their squad for the ICC World Twenty20 2016 tournament, with the likes of Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Thirimanne drafted in to replace Niroshan Dickwella and Jeffrey Vandersay, reports ESPNcricinfo.