Sanath Jayasuriya named Sri Lanka's interim head coach

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced former cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya as the interim head coach of the senior men’s team. Former coach Chris Silverwood resigned from his position after Sri Lanka’s poor outing in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, in which, the team failed to qualify for the Super Eights of the competition.

Given the conditions, Sri Lanka entered the contest as one of the contenders for the title. They had quality spinners and batters, which could have taken them to the next round, but a collective failure cost them the tournament. Silverwood, who otherwise had done a decent job with the national team, took the blame and offered his resignation.

Jayasuriya, who served as the consultant of the team during the marquee tournament, has been promoted, but SLC are in the hunt to find a permanent replacement for Silverwood. The former opener meanwhile will be in charge of the upcoming home series against India and England and, following which, the board is likely to appoint someone in a full-time role.

The 55-year-old also served Sri Lanka as a cricket consultant starting December 2023 and oversaw both players and coaches at the High-Performance Centre in Khettarama.

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Sri Lanka’s upcoming assignment will begin with a T20I on July 27 against India. Many of the T20 World Cup-winning squad are expected to return, and the players who would do well in the series against Zimbabwe are likely to replace Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, India also undergoing a coaching transition as Rahul Dravid's tenure with the team ended with the T20 World Cup success.

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Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir is expected to replace Dravid at the helm of things. The paperwork is reported to be done, and an announcement is expected sooner rather than later. His first assignment against Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka will be a cracker of a contest, given how aggressive both were during their playing days.