Former Sri Lanka captain Santa Jayasuriya has been appointed interim coach of the national team for the upcoming limited-over series against India at home and an away Test tour in England, which ends mid-September.
Jayasuriya, who was earlier the chief selector of the men’s team as well as cricket consultant for Sri Lanka Cricket, hasn’t previously held a high-profile coaching position. His appointment came days after Chris Silverwood stepped down from the role after the team’s forgettable campaign at the ICC T20 World Cup, where it failed to make it to the Super Eight stage.
SLC chief executive Ashley de Silva had then said that the board would advertise for the role and could prefer a local coach for the role. On Jayasuriya’s appointment, de Silva said, “Sanath with his wealth of international cricketing experience is well positioned to guide the national team, until we find a permanent solution.”
Jayasuriya was with the men’s team during their World Cup campaign in the Americas as consultant, his first official role after returning from the two-year ban for refusing to co-operate with investigations related to corruption, run by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.
One of the finest all-rounders during his playing days, Jayasuriya is credited for revolutionising white-ball cricket with his aggressive batting at the top of the innings. He remains the fifth-highest ODI run scorer of all time, with 13,430 runs. He also has 323 ODI dismissals, making him the 12th-highest wicket-taker in the format. This is in addition to considerable exploits across 110 Tests and 31 T20I as well.