Former Sri Lankan captain and legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya was confirmed as the new head coach of the Sri Lankan men’s cricket team on Monday (October 7). The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) took to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm the news of Jayasuriya’s appointment as successor of Chris Silverwood.
Silverwood, who also served as head coach of England in the past, stepped down from his role in June 2024 after Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Super 8s of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which was played in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to 29, 2024.
Jayasuriya, who was the member of the Sri Lankan team that won the ODI World Cup in 1996, was appointed as Sri Lanka’s interim head coach for the white-ball series against India in July-August, and after helping Sri Lanka win the bilateral ODI series against India for the first time since 1997, Jayasuriya helped Sri Lanka win a Test match against England at the Oval and whitewash New Zealand in a two-match Test series played in front of home fans last month.
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as the head coach of the national team. The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket made this decision taking into consideration the team’s good performances in the recent tours against India, England, and New Zealand, where Jayasuriya was in charge as the ‘interim head coach.’. The appointment came into effect on October 1, 2024, and will remain until March 31, 2026. #SriLankaCricket #SLC.”
Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as the head coach of the national team.The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket made this decision taking into consideration the team’s good performances in the recent tours against India, England,… pic.twitter.com/IkvAIJgqio
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) October 7, 2024
55-year-old Jayasuriya, who played 110 Tests, 445 ODIs, and 31 T20Is for Sri Lanka during his more than two-decade-long international career, has been offered an 18-month contract.
His first series as the full-time head coach of Sri Lanka will be against the West Indies later this month. The two-time ODI and T20 World Cup winners will travel to the island nation to take part in a three-match T20I series, which will be followed by three ODIs between the two teams.
Sri Lanka sits at No. 3 position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table and is in the race to qualify for the final, which is scheduled to take place at the Lord’s in June next year.
Comments
0 comment