Pallekele, March 1 – Following Sri Lanka’s narrow defeat to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup Super 8 stage, head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down from his role.
Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the ongoing tournament, with the island nation suffering a third consecutive loss in the Super Eights after losing to Pakistan by three runs in Pallekele on Saturday.
Jayasuriya plans to meet with officials to discuss his future as the co-hosts come to terms with the completion of their disappointing campaign at the ICC T20 World Cup.
"I thought it was time to hand over to someone else," Jayasuriya said in the post-match press conference. "About two months ago, during the England series, I had said that I didn't expect to stay in the job for long. I had already made that decision. I thought I would be able to leave as coach at the World Cup, but I wasn't able to do that as well as I had hoped, and I'm disappointed about that."
Jayasuriya took over as Sri Lanka coach shortly after the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup, with the former captain confirming his preference to leave the role early despite his contract being scheduled to end in June this year.
"My contract runs until June. I haven't officially informed SLC yet. They don't even know that I'm going to say this. I need to go and discuss it with them. If they can get someone else to coach the team, then they should definitely do that."
Sri Lanka managed three wins from their four matches in the initial group stage of the T20 World Cup, but injuries to key players Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana derailed their campaign, leading to their winless run in the Super Eights.
"I think we could have done better, for sure," Jayasuriya continued. "Since we played in Sri Lanka, we had many opportunities to reach the semi-finals. But unfortunately, we didn't. I believe that we should have done better."
"The problem was inconsistency. In some games, the batting didn't perform well; in others, the bowling didn't. If you want to win matches, both departments need to perform really well. Unfortunately, we were inconsistent, and that was the key. We need to be consistent in every department."
Under Jayasuriya's tenure, Sri Lanka recorded their first ODI bilateral series win against India in 27 years in August 2024, before going on to win a Test match at The Oval in September of that year, and then beating New Zealand 2-0 at home in a Test series.
While results at this year’s T20 World Cup fell short of expectations, Jayasuriya believes he achieved significant progress during his time in charge.
"Over the last one-and-a-half years, I was able to bring the team up from where we were. In ODIs, we were ranked eighth or ninth and didn't even qualify for a Champions Trophy," he noted.
"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.
"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 had played."
