March 1, 2026 · 9:14 pm
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Sanath Jayasuriya proceeding to Relinquish Coaching Post …..

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 1 March 2026, ……………………. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/sanath-jayasuriya-to-step-down-as-sri-lanka-coach-1526373

Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down as Sri Lanka men’s head coach. He announced his decision following Sri Lanka’s narrow loss to Pakistan, that match ending the team’s World Cup journey. Although he had not officially informed SLC of this decision, he said he had already decided this World Cup would be his last assignment in the role.

“I thought it was time to give it to someone else,” said Jayasuriya. “That’s why about two months ago I’d said during the England series that I don’t have hopes of staying in the job for long. I’d taken this decision by then. I thought I’d be able to leave as coach on a good note in the World Cup. I wasn’t able to do that as well as I’d like, and I’m sad about that.”

Although Jayasuriya was stepping down, he didn’t quite confirm that he would do so immediately. Sri Lanka have a limited-overs tour against Afghanistan that was scheduled to begin on March 13 (although that series is now under threat because of hostilities in the Middle East), which may be one the board wishes him to remain for.
“My contract runs till June,” he said. “I haven’t given SLC any news officially yet. They don’t know that I am going to say this even. I will need to go and discuss with them. If they can get somebody [to coach the team] then definitely [they should do that].”
Jayasuriya took over as Sri Lanka head coach soon after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Many of his better accomplishments came in his first few months. Sri Lanka recorded their first ODI bilateral series win against India in 27 years in August 2024, before going on to win a Test at The Oval in September that year, then beating New Zealand 2-0 at home soon after, also in Tests.
“Over the last one-and-a-half years I was able to bring the team from where we were. In ODIs we were ranked eighth or ninth and we didn’t even qualify for a Champions Trophy. But I was able to bring us to No. 4. I’ve brought the Test team to No. 6, and the T20 team is also sixth or seventh [they currently sit at eighth].
“I didn’t do it alone. My support staff gave me incredible assistance. From day one I asked them to help me, because I didn’t have a lot of experience as a coach. But I was able to manage it because of the cricket I’d played.”
The last year of Jayasuriya’s tenure has been characterised by failures in the shortest format, Sri Lanka’s four consecutive losses to crash out of a home T20 World Cup chief among them. Sri Lanka had also been modest in the Asia Cup in 2025, and had underwhelmed in the T20I tri-series in Pakistan last year.
Jayasuriya had previously served as chief selector in two separate stints.
Sanath JayasuriyaSri LankaICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf
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ALSO NOTE …………………………………………………..

https://internationalcricket.fandom.com/wiki/Sanath_Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya ……

  Sanath Jayasuriya
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Personal information
Full name Sanath Teran Jayasuriya
Born 30 June 1969 (age 56)
Matara, Sri Lanka
Nickname Master Blaster, Matara Hurricane, Matara Mauler
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left arm orthodox
Role All-rounder
International information
National side Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 49) 22 February 1991 v New Zealand
Last Test 1 December 2007 v England
ODI debut (cap 58) 26 December 1989 v Australia
Last ODI 28 June 2011 v England
ODI shirt no. 07
T20I debut (cap 4) 15 June 2006 v England
Last T20I 20 july 2010 v England
Domestic team information
Years Team
1994 – 2010–11 Bloomfield
2005 Somerset
2007 Marylebone Cricket Club
2007 Lancashire
2008 Warwickshire
2008–2010 Mumbai Indians
2010 Worcestershire
2011 Ruhuna Rhinos
2012 Khulna Royal Bengals
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC List A
Matches 110 445 265 557
Runs scored 6973 13430 14819 16128
Batting average 40.07 32.36 38.39 31.19
100s/50s 14/31 28/68 29/70 31/82
Top scores 340 189 340 189
Balls bowled 8,188 14874 15,275 18,167
Wickets 98 323 205 413
Bowling average 34.34 36.75 33.20 34.85
5 wickets in innings 2 4 2 5
10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling 5/34 6/29 5/34 6/29
Catches/stumpings 78/0 123/0 162/0 153/0
Source: Cricinfo, {{{date}}} {{{year}}}

(born 30 June 1969) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. Considered one of the greatest one day international (ODI) players of all time, Jayasuriya is well known for his powerful striking and match winning all-round performances in ODI cricket. Jayasuriya is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting with Romesh Kaluwitharana in 1996, which initiated the hard-hitting modern day batting strategy of all nations.Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades, He is the only player to score over 12,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day International cricket, and hence regarded as one of the best all rounders in the history of limited-overs cricket. He was named the Most Valuable Player of 1996 Cricket World Cup and Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack broke an age old tradition by naming him one of Five Cricketers’ of the Year 1997 despite not playing the previous season in England. Jayasuriya was also the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003.

He retired from Test cricket in December 2007 and from limited overs cricket in June 2011. On 28 January 2013, Sri Lanka Cricket appointed him as the chairman of cricket selection committee. Sri Lanka won the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2014, during his tenure as the chief selector.

Jayasuriya ran for public office at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the parliament from his native Matara District. He topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes. He served as the deputy minister of Postal services in the former UPFA government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, and later as the Deputy Minister of Local Government & Rural Development under president Maithripala Sirisena. Jayasuriya did not contest for the 2015 Sri Lankan general election, though he won most votes from Matara district under UPFA in the 2010 Sri Lankan general election.

External links

Template:Sri Lankans with 100 or more Test caps

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