You can't switch captains in the middle of a series now

PUNE: If a team wants to change its captain during a series/tournament , just sending the new captain for the toss or writing 'captain' in front of his name in the team-sheet won't be enough. The concerned national board must write a letter specifying the change of captaincy.
Sri Lankan team manager Charith Senanayake can take 'credit' for this change which was made after a two-day meeting of ICC Chief Executives in Dubai on Tuesday.
Mahela Jawardene, the designated captain for last year's ICC World T20, handed the captaincy responsibility on paper to Sangakkara for the match against England in the Super Eight stage. The latter went for the toss but the former continued to lead the team on field; and he also attended the post-match press conference. Reason: Mahela was penalized for slow overrate earlier in the tournament and a further 'offence' would have forced him to miss the knockout phase of the tournament . The ICC code of conduct holds captains responsible for any excessive delays in completing quota of overs within stipulated time.
According to sources, the ICC clearly looked at the sequence of events during World T20 in Sri Lanka as breach of spirit of cricket and has decided that national boards should get involved in major (' tactical) decisions like changing the captain during the tournament. It should not be just left to the earlier designated captain or team management to indicate change of leadership to the umpires and match referee.
Mahela had said during the press conference of that match: "I don't think that the intentions were wrong. It's a tough system and it's tough to bowl 20 overs in one hour and 20 minutes in a tournament like this. We try our best, but the penalties are harsh. We don't want to miss the big games, so we did it with the right intentions. Angelo Mathews was on the same offence for a match against Pakistan in Hambantota , so if he got nailed he misses a game as well. We had to find someone who didn't have a rap sheet and Kumar fitted the bill."
According to Mahela, it was the brainwave of Senanayake. He claimed that the team had verified the rules and consulted the ICC code of conduct before proceeding.
Mahela had said: "I'm sure they'll change the rules after this, but hopefully not in this tournament."
The ICC proved him right and has now put the onus on national boards to verify this tactical but questionable move. Of course, the teams can continue to use the changing captain tactic and make the ICC code of conduct irrelevant. But it will need blessings of the board. The ICC think-tank hoped that such additional step will curtail 'on paper' captaincy shift.
The ICC also decided to continue with two balls per innings regulation in 50-over matches. Some boards, including India, believed to have objected to it arguing that it negates role of spinners in the team. But since the opposition didn't constitute twothirds majority, the existing regulation remained untouched.