The former Sri Lanka batter and a legend of the game, Mahela Jayawardene has resigned from the position of the Sri Lanka consultant coach, after a very poor T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America, where they failed to qualify for the ‘super eight’ stage of the tournament.
The team, under the captaincy of Wanindu Hasaranga, could earn only one solitary win over Netherlands in the group stage of the competition, and found themselves at the third position, after they lost their first couple of games against Bangladesh and South Africa.
Their first game of the tournament was against the Proteas at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York, they were bundled out for only 77 in 19.1 overs, with no individual who could come up with even a decent performance in the side. They kept the game alive but South Africa was never going to lose it.
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Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood resigns from his position
In their next game at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Sri Lanka, even on a good batting surface could post 127/9 in their 20-overs, as their opener Pathum Nissanka blasted his way to a 28-ball 47-run knock. But none of the batters could come up with any good performance,
The bowling of the side, consisting of their captain, or young Matheesha Pathirana or Maheesh Theekshana was quite brutal and they did a great job with a collective effort. But their lack of runs didn’t help them at all.
Their next game against Nepal was a washout, at the Central Broward Regional Park Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida was a washed-out affair and knocked the team out of the group stage.
At last in their final group stage game at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia, they showed their aggressive and powerful batting with 201/6 in 20-overs, as everyone chipped in with individual performances. They blew away the team for 118 runs in 16.4 overs, which eventually saw them getting an 83-run win at the end.
The Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood too stepped down from the head coach position, on the back of the constant poor performance from the team.
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‘Jayawardene, during his tenure, helped implement significant changes to the structure of the national team ecosystem and the High-Performance Center.’ The official statement from the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLCB) was released. ‘Sri Lanka Cricket takes this opportunity to wish Mahela all the best in his future endeavors and thank him for the services he rendered during his tenure.’
The downfall for the side is quite constant for the team, and that’s not only in the shortest format of the game but in the One Day Internationals.
Even in the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, they ended in the penultimate position among the ten teams, as they could win only two games of the nine fixtures, and ended with a net run rate of -1.419. They will look to bring some changes in the side, before they face India at home for a three-match ODI and T20I series, starting in the last week of July.
