Colombo, March 1 Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down as the head coach of Sri Lanka following his team's poor performance in the T20 World Cup.
The co-hosts, Sri Lanka, lost all their matches in the Super 8 stage. They had also lost to Zimbabwe and had wins against Australia, Oman, and Ireland in the preliminary stage.
"My contract ends in June, but I will be stepping down before that. I will be discussing this with Sri Lanka Cricket," Jayasuriya told reporters after Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan on Saturday.
"We could have done better. I am sorry and I apologize to the fans," Jayasuriya, who was the player of the tournament when Sri Lanka won the 1996 ODI World Cup, said.
He said that Sri Lanka was badly affected by the injuries of Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana, and Kusal Mendis.
"Their replacements were not able to perform at the required level. Hasaranga was my best player, and it is difficult to find a replacement for him," Jayasuriya said, blaming both the bowler and the batter's inconsistency for the poor performance.
Over the one-and-a-half years of his tenure, Sri Lanka improved their rankings across formats, Jayasuriya said.
