Ranatunga, the only surviving member of Sri Lanka's inaugural Test team of 1982, first captained the national team in 1988 in Asia Cup tournament in Bangladesh when regular skipper Ranjan Madugalle was injured. Since then Ranatunga has held the reins throughout but had several broken sequences.
World Cup champions Sri Lanka will play their opening match of the second four-nation Singer World Series when they meet India under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium on August 28.