The Sri Lankan Cricket Board President Thilanga Sumathipala has said that there are bright chances of Nic Pothas, the interim coach of Sri Lankan cricket team being there with the team for the longer period of time, as the Head Coach of the team,
“We have every confidence that Nic Pothas can take on the role of head coach and carry on, that’s why we have appointed him for the Zimbabwe and India series. We have a strategic plan to engage the next coach and Nic Pothas is also a good contender for it. There are professional coaches who are currently engaged and shown a lot of interest and we are confident we will have one at the end of the Indian tour. We will not have to look too far to find somebody who will be competent to take this team to the 2019 World Cup,” SLC President Sumathipala.
Pothas took over as the interim coach of the side after Graham Ford stepped down from the post after Sri Lanka’s exit from the Champions Trophy. However, later it was said that he had differences with the board. It is a fact that Lankan team hasn’t performed well in past few months as well. The lowest phase came when they faced defeat against Bangladesh in the home series.
Sri Lanka did not come in as favourites in the Champions Trophy and there again, only one win three games meant that they could not qualify for the next round. Though the win against India was an impressive one. In the eventual quarter-final against Pakistan, they performed well but Pakistan went away with the win, to qualify for the semi-finals. Pakistan ended the tournament as the ultimate tournament winners.
Nic Pothas will oversee the coaching duties for the series against Zimbabwe and India. Out of these two, team’s performance against India will determine whether Sri Lanka Board will retain him or not.
Meanwhile, the Board has already dropped the name of Mahela Jayawardene even before he could apply, when the Board’s President called him short of experience for the Head Coach job.