Sanath Jayasuriya has been named the interim Head Coach of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as Chris Silverwood confirms to step down from that position after the T20 World Cup in the Americas citing “personal reasons”.
As per SLC’s official statement, Jayasuriya will serve as head coach until September 2024. He will take over after the T20 Lanka Premier League (LPL 2024) concludes on July 21. “I have been asked to take over coaching and I am happy to do it,” Jayasuriya told.
Sanath has worked previously as the national team selector and also as the consultant to oversee players and coaches in the high-performance center in Khettarama.
Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Mr. Sanath Jayasuriya as the ‘Interim Head Coach’ of the National Team. He will function in the position until the completion of Sri Lanka’s tour of England in September 2024. https://t.co/ymkI1d9aCx #SLC #lka…
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 8, 2024
Silverwood has been the head coach of the Sri Lanka Men’s cricket team since April 2022 and has guided the side in several important tournaments. He earned success in his tenure as Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup 2022 and also oversaw an ODI bilateral series win 3-2 against Australia at Home. They also finished up as runners in the 2023 Asia Cup after India won the title for the sixth time.
After which Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Super 8s stage they completed third in Group C behind South Africa and Bangladesh.
Sanath Jayasuriya will bring in lots of international experience who has appeared 586 times across all formats for Sri Lanka. Before retiring from International career in 2011, he added 42 centuries and 440 wickets to his name.
He played a crucial role during the 1996 ODI World Cup where Sri Lanka claimed the champions title. He also served as the Member of Parliament from 2010-15.
His stint as coach will begin after the end of the ongoing LPL 2024 season and will set to take charge of the side for a limited series against India starting by the end of July. He will continue to be the interim coach until September 2024.
Notably, Mahela Jayawardene has also resigned from the position of consultant coach on June 26. He was the one behind the significant changes to the structure of the national team ecosystem and the high-performance center.
