Sri Lanka’s Jayasuriya to step down, Contract runs till June

Mar.01 (Mirror Sports) - Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down as Sri Lanka’s men’s head coach following the team’s narrow defeat to Pakistan that ended their T20 World Cup campaign.

Jayasuriya revealed that he had already made up his mind to leave after the tournament, although he has not yet officially informed Sri Lanka Cricket. His current contract runs until June.

“I thought it was time to give it to someone else,” Jayasuriya said. “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 had 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.”

While confirming his intention to step down, Jayasuriya did not clarify whether his exit would be immediate. Sri Lanka are scheduled to tour Afghanistan in a limited-overs series starting March 13, although that tour remains uncertain due to tensions in the Middle East.

“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 charge shortly after the 2024 T20 World Cup and enjoyed early success. Sri Lanka secured their first bilateral ODI series win against India in 27 years in August 2024. They followed it up with a Test victory at The Oval in September and a 2-0 home Test series win over New Zealand soon after.

“Over the last one-and-a-half years I was able to bring the team from where we were,” he said. “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.

“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.”

However, the final year of his tenure was marked by struggles in the shortest format. Sri Lanka suffered four consecutive defeats in the home T20 World Cup and also delivered underwhelming performances in the 2025 Asia Cup and the T20I tri-series in Pakistan last year.

Jayasuriya had previously served two stints as Sri Lanka’s chief selector before taking up the head coach role.