COLOMBO: Legendary opener Sanath Jayasuriya has been appointed as the interim head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team ahead of the white-ball series against India to be played this month.
Following Sri Lanka’s disappointing performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup 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they suffered a group stage exit, Mahela Jayawardene stepped down as the team’s consultant and Chris Silverwood has now been replaced by Jayasuriya.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 cricket experience, is well placed to lead the national team until we find a permanent solution.”
In the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka finished third in Group C as they managed to win only one match. Their match against Nepal was called off due to rain in Florida, greatly hampering their chances of advancing to the Super 8.
Jayasuriya confirmed that he was approached by Sri Lanka Cricket to coach the national team and he accepted.
Silverwood became Sri Lanka’s head coach in April 2022 and under his tenure the Islanders won the 2022 Asia Cup by defeating Pakistan in the final, but their performance was not up to the standards of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, Sri Lanka made it to the final of the Asia Cup but were crushed by India.
Jayasuriya is considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time as in the 586 international matches he played for Sri Lanka, the left-handed batsman scored 21,032 runs across all formats at an average of 34.14 with 103 half-centuries and 42 centuries.
While Jayasuriya was good with the bat, he also bagged 440 wickets across three formats.
Jayasuriya is most likely to start his coaching job once the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 ends. Sri Lanka will play a white-ball series against India in July and August and tour England in August.
