Former Sri Lanka captain and chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya is set to take over as head coach of the senior men's cricket team after Chris Silverwood stepped down from the role following early exit from T20 World Cup 2024.
Jayasuriya who has been working as consultant at the High Performance Centre in Khettarama confirmed the development weeks ahead of India’s tour of Sri Lanka.
"I have been asked to take over coaching and I am happy to do it," Jayasuriya told AFP news agency.
Earlier, Mahela Jawardene stepped down as consultant coach of the team in June.
Silverwood’s tenure as head coach
Former England cricketer Silverwood took charge of the team in April 2022. During his tenure, Sri Lanka won the T20 Asia Cup 2022. They could not repeat the heroics in ODI World Cup 2023 and failed to make it into the last four. They faced seven losses from nine league stage games.
In the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2024, they managed to register just one victory in group stage and could not make it to the next round. However, in World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 standings, they are placed fourth on the table with two wins from four games.
Jayasuriya’s career
Jayasuriya is the leading run-scorer with 13,430 runs from 445 games at an average of 32.36 including 28 centuries 68 fifties. In Tests, he has scored 6,973 runs from 110 games at an average of 40.07 including 14 centuries and 31 fifties. He was considered way ahead of his time as T20Is were introduced during his twilight years. The left-handed batter has scored 629 runs from 31 T20Is including four fifties.
The left-arm spinner was lethal with the ball too. He bagged 323 ODI wickets including four fifers. In Tests, he has 98 wickets to his name. He made his last appaearance on the international stage in 2011.
India’s tour of Sri Lanka schedule
India's tour of Sri Lanka will begin on July 27. The three T20I series will be followed by three ODIs. The ODI series will be played from August 2 to 7. BCCI is expected to announce a full-strength ODI squad for the series.
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