NEW DELHI: Former cricketer
Sanath Jayasuriya
announced on Monday that he will be the new head coach of
Sri Lanka’s national cricket team
after
Chris Silverwood
's resignation. Silverwood quit citing "personal reasons" following the team's early exit from the
T20 World Cup
.
Jayasuriya will take over after the T20 Lanka Premier League concludes on July 21.
"I have been asked to take over coaching and I am happy to do it," Jayasuriya told AFP.
Jayasuriya, a former Test and ODI captain, had also been a national selector.
Jayasuriya, 55, confirmed that Sri Lanka Cricket approached him to coach the national squad ahead of a white ball series against India this month and a tour of England in August.
Jayasuriya has previously served as a national selector and brings a wealth of experience to the role, having represented Sri Lanka 586 times in Test, ODI, and T20 formats, scoring 42 centuries and taking 440 wickets.
His last international appearance was in 2011.
Silverwood, who had been the head coach since April 2022, stepped down after Sri Lanka’s disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup, where they managed only one win against the Netherlands and finished third in their group behind South Africa and Bangladesh.
Despite a promising start with Sri Lanka winning the T20 Asia Cup in 2022 and reaching the final of the 50-over Asia Cup in 2023, the team failed to make it to the knockout stages of recent World Cup tournaments.
In a related development, former skipper Mahela Jayawardena also stepped down as "consultant coach" last month, further signaling significant changes in the coaching staff of the national team.
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