A few weeks ago, Sri Lanka received the termination letter of their head coach Chris Silverwood from the position. Now their cricket board has announced that the former dashing opening batter of their national team, Sanath Jayasuriya will be the new head coach, as his first assignment will be the upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka.
Silverwood cited personal reasons behind his resignation at the end of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America, where their side was kicked out from the group stage of the event.
Sri Lanka, under the captaincy of Wanindu Hasaranga, has been going through a tough time in international cricket, as they failed to qualify for the second round of the T20 World Cup even during the last edition in Australia. The poor performance could be the reason behind the end of Silverwood’s tenure, as the board seeks the services of Sanath Jayasuriya.
Sanath Jayasuriya has a huge in the future development of Sri Lanka
The team has been strengthened with some fantastic bowlers-led by their captain, who has made himself famous by playing in the various leagues around the globe, while the off-spinner Matheesh Theekshana too is a huge member of the side in the white-ball format.
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The likes of Dilshan Madushanka- the left-arm pacer, and Asitha Fernando have been quite exciting as their pacer, with the two slinger types of Nuwan Thushara and Matheesha Pathirana expected to take the team forward with their excellent bowling performance.
The batting department too has been stable, with Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva being two of the prolific all-rounders of the side. But the aim for Sanath Jayasuriya will be how he glues the members of the side for the big ICC tournaments.
Once the players start to give their all as a team, they would become incredible in their performance- as they did during the Asis Cup 2022 where they became the champions, and then were handed over the runners-up medal during the ODI version of the Asia Cup 2023.
The former left-hander has been delighted with the new role and vows to take the team forward.
I have been asked to take over coaching and I am happy to do it.’ Sanath Jayasuriya expressed to AFP. He was the former Test and ODI captain besides being the national selector of the side.
He will also take charge of the side when they make their trip to England for three Tests against England in August. The dynamic aggressive batter has given his huge service to Sri Lanka, having made 6973 runs in 188 Tests, while his 13430 ODI runs have come at a strike rate of 91.20, with 68 half-centuries and 28 hundreds, with a best score of 189.
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Even in the shortest format of the game, Sanath Jayasuriya was part of 109 T20 innings, where he smashed 2317 runs at a strike rate of over 140, for his 12 fifties and a century. It’s phenomenal also how he picked up 323 scalps in ODIs at an economy rate of under five.
In related news of the SLCB, the former captain of the side, Mahela Jayawardene too stepped as the consultant coach of the side, just after Silverwood gave the resignation letter for the head coach role. Sri Lanka is to face India in a three-match ODI and T20I series, starting towards the end of July.