'Thankful for your guidance and support' - Suryakumar Yadav wishes MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene on his 45th birthday

As the Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mahela Jayawardene celebrated his birthday, prolific batter Suryakumar Yadav wished the former Sri Lanka captain and expressed his gratitude. Jayawardene has been in the MI setup for a long time now, and Yadav has received immense training under him over the years.

Jayawardene is one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished players. In 2006, the International Cricket Council voted him the best international skipper of the year. Jayawardene was a member of the ICC World T20 winning team in 2014. He was part of the teams that made a mark at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, the 2009 and 2012 ICC World T20s. In 2007, he was named the best Test cricketer of the year.

“Happy Birthday coach @MahelaJay. Very thankful for your guidance, support, and belief that you have shown in me.. Wish you a great day and a blessed year,” Yadav’s tweet read.

Happy Birthday coach @MahelaJay 🥳
Very thankful for your guidance, support and belief that you have shown in me.. Wish you a great day and a blessed year 😇 pic.twitter.com/ZfuIQzwwrt

— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) May 27, 2022

Jayawardene, who turned 45 today, was the first Sri Lankan cricketer to reach the 10,000-run mark in the Test format. The batter has also tormented bowlers in One Day Internationals as he became the second Sri Lankan player to reach 10,000 runs in the format. He is the first and only player in World Cup history to score a century in both a final and a semi-final.

Mahela Jayawardene’s successful stint with MI over the years

Jayawardene was named the head coach of Mumbai Indians in 2017, and the team won their third title that year under his guidance. In 2019 and 2020, he assisted the Mumbai Indians in becoming only the second team in history to successfully defend the championship, thereby registering their fourth and fifth IPL titles respectively.

Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in the IPL with five titles in the bag, three of which have been won under Jayawardene’s mentorship. Other players from the Mumbai Indians setup like Ramandeep Singh, Anmol Singh, and Hrithik Shokeen also wished the veteran and thanked him for his contribution. Jayawardene will be expected to be back in action with Mumbai after their abysmal run this season.