Legendary opener Sanath Jayasuriya is named the interim head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team ahead of the white-ball series against India which will be played this month.
After Sri Lanka’s disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 where they suffered a group-stage exit, Mahela Jayawardene stepped down as the team’s consultant and Chris Silverwood has now been replaced by Jayasuriya.
The CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket, Ashley De Silva, said: "Sanath with his wealth of international cricketing experience is well positioned to guide the national team until we find a permanent solution."
In the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka finished third in Group C as they only managed to win one match. Their match against Nepal was called off due to rain in Florida which troubled their chances of making it to the Super 8 greatly.
Jayasuriya confirmed that he was approached by Sri Lanka Cricket to coach the national team and he accepted it.
“I have been asked to take over coaching and I am happy to do it,” Sanath Jayasuriya told AFP news agency.
Silverwood became Sri Lanka’s head coach in April 2022 and under his tenure, the Islanders won the Asia Cup in 2022 by beating Pakistan in the final but their performance wasn’t up to the mark in ODI World Cup 2023.
Before the ODI World Cup 2023, Sri Lanka made it to the Asia Cup final but were crushed by India.
Jayasuriya is considered one of the greatest batters of all time as in 586 international matches he played with Sri Lanka, the left-handed batter scored 21,032 runs across all formats at an average of 34.14 with 103 half-centuries and 42 centuries.
As good as he was with the bat, Jayasuriya also bagged 440 wickets across three formats.
Jayasuriya, most likely, will begin his coaching stint once the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 ends. Sri Lanka will play a white-ball series against India in July-August and will tour England in August.
- Sanath Jayasuriya
