Considering the string of impressive performances by the Sri Lanka senior men’s cricket team during the recent tours against India, England and New Zealand under the guidance of legendary opener and allrounder Sanath Jayasuriya as interim head coach, the country’s national cricket body, Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Monday that he has been confirmed as regular head coach of the team till the conclusion of the 10th ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February-March, 2026.
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A post on its official X handle (@OfficialSLC) said, “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as the head coach of the national team.
“The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket made this decision taking into consideration the team’s good performances in the recent tours against India, England and New Zealand, where Jayasuriya was in charge as the ‘interim head coach’.
“The appointment came into effect from Oct 1, 2024, and will remain until March 31, 2026.”
His first assignment as head coach will be the forthcoming limited overs matches against West Indies, in Dambulla and Pallekele.
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Over the past few months, Sri Lanka, under Jayasuriya’s training, won their first bilateral ODI series against India in 27 years by a 2-0 margin (though earlier they were whitewashed in the T20I series 0-3), defeated England in a away Test match for the first time in 10 years (England won the Test series 2-1), and more recently whitewashed New Zealand 2-0 in home Tests to give the team an outside chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.
This is Jayasuriya’s first serious foray into coaching, though he has served as chief selector in two separate stints prior to his two-year-ban under the ICC’s anti-corruption code.
Jayasuriya had stepped into the coaching role following the exit of Chris Silverwood after the 9th edition of the T20 World Cup in the Americas.
Jayasuriya’s international cricket stats
The left-handed big-hitting former Sri Lankan opener has 21,000-plus runs to his credit in 586 international matches spanning all three formats.
He played 110 Test matches, amassing 6973 runs with 14 hundreds and 31 fifties at an average of 40.07, his highest score in an innings being 340.
But his strongest contribution came in the ODIs. In the 445 ODIs he played, the left-handed pinch-hitter smashed 13,430 runs at an average of 32.36, with 28 hundreds and 68 half centuries and a strike rate of 91.20. His highest score in ODIs was 189.
The advent of T20Is came towards the fag end of his career because of which he could play only 31 matches in the shortest format of the game, scoring 629 runs at an average of 23.36 and a strike rate of 129.15. His highest T20I score was 88.
He was a more than useful orthodox left arm spinner too, claiming 440 international wickets in all three formats with 14 four-wkt and 6 five-wkt hauls.
He was a key member of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 ODI World Cup. He also served as Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka from 2010-15.
