Former cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya named Sri Lanka’s head coach

Jayasuriya takes on the role permanently after overseeing the men’s national team’s recent Test and one-day series wins.

Sri Lanka’s cricket board has named Sanath Jayasuriya as the national men’s team’s head coach until the end of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

The former captain’s appointment was confirmed on Monday, nearly four months after he took up the role temporarily from Chris Silverwood, who quit following the country’s early exit from the T20 World Cup.

The 55-year-old led Sri Lanka to a 2-0 home Test series win over New Zealand in September. He was also in charge when Sri Lanka beat England in an away Test match for the first time in 10 years last month.

“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,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced in a statement.

“The appointment came into effect on October 1, 2024, and will remain until March 31, 2026,” the SLC 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,… pic.twitter.com/IkvAIJgqio

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) October 7, 2024

Under Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka also won a one-day international series against India for the first time in 27 years in August.

He was regarded as one of the greatest one-day international batsmen of all time and was pivotal in the country’s maiden ICC Cricket World Cup victory in 1996.

The left-handed opening batter and spin bowler represented Sri Lanka 586 times across the three formats of the game, hitting 42 centuries and taking 440 wickets. He played his last international in 2011.

The former national selector has also had a brush with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) and was banned from all forms of cricket for two years in 2019.

Jayasuriya was charged after failing to hand over his mobile phones and was accused of obstructing or delaying any investigation into corruption in the game.

He is also an ex-lawmaker and a former deputy minister of the postal service.

Sri Lanka will host West Indies in a three-match T20 series later in October. They are scheduled to co-host the T20 World Cup, starting February 2026, with India.