Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down from his role as head coach of Sri Lanka, revealing that he had already planned for the ongoing World Cup to be his final assignment. He made the announcement after Sri Lanka’s narrow five-run defeat to Pakistan on Saturday, which ended their campaign in the tournament.
Speaking about the decision, Jayasuriya said he felt it was the right moment for someone else to take charge. He noted that he had already hinted at stepping away during Sri Lanka’s series in England about two months earlier and had hoped to sign off with a strong World Cup showing. However, the team’s early exit left him disappointed.
“I thought so, I though I should give that title to someone else. That’s why I mentioned two months ago during the England series that I have no plans staying here. So, I said that after talking that decision. I thought from the world Cup, I would be able to leave here as the coach in a good note. I couldn’t do that as much as I thought. I feel sorry about that, but I could have taken this team forward for one and half years of time,” Jayasuriya said at the post-match presentation on Saturday.
“We were in 8th 9th places and we were not even being qualified for champions as ODI team , I took that team to number 04. I brought test team to number 6, I also brought T20 team to 6th , 7th places. For all those, I took the team with an overall winning rate of 50%. I didn’t do that alone; my support staff gave me a huge support for that. From the first day I started, I asked them to help me.”
“Because I didn’t have experience as a coach, you all saw that. I could manage that as the way of the cricket that I played. I did that. So, I think, I can be happy about what I did. But I can’t be happy about the way that a world cup ended. I’m a little sad about it, not a little, I’m very sad about it. So, let’s see, my contract ends in June. I have not given my official decision or anything to Sri Lanka Cricket. I have to go and discuss with them. Have to talk about what do I have to do,” he added.
Jayasuriya took over as head coach shortly after the 2024 T20 World Cup and initially oversaw a period of encouraging results. Under his tenure, Sri Lanka achieved their first bilateral ODI series win against India in 27 years in August 2024. The team also registered a memorable Test victory at The Oval the following month and later completed a 2–0 home Test series win over New Zealand.
The former all-rounder said he felt sorry for the fans because they had shown strong belief in the team and supported them wholeheartedly from the very first match. He added that he was grateful for that backing, even though supporters might now feel disappointed or frustrated and may have expressed their anger, whether on social media or in everyday conversations.
“I’m very sorry about the spectators, because I know how they had a faith in the team when they came to the matches. I think from the first match itself, they gave us their maximum support to Sri Lanka. So, I’m forever thankful for that. They may be worried, maybe they were angry with us, may have scolded us, may have scolded us on social media, or even when they see each other on the roads,” Jayasuriya said.
