Consultant Coach Mahela Jayawardene Resigns from Sri Lanka Cricket
Former Sri Lankan batting great Mahela Jayawardene has stepped down from his role as Consultant Coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, just six months into his one-year contract extension.
In a statement released by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the governing body announced Jayawardene’s resignation, effective immediately. During his tenure, Jayawardene had played a key role in implementing significant changes to the structure of the national team ecosystem and the High-Performance Center.
Jayawardene’s stint with SLC, which began in 2022, saw mixed results. The team’s unexpected triumph at the 2022 Asia Cup and their run to the final a year later were the highlights, but poor showings at the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cups, as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup, had put his position under scrutiny, despite SLC’s desire to extend his role citing his behind-the-scenes contributions.
In his resignation letter, Jayawardene stated that he had concluded that the current decision-making was no longer fully aligned with the direction he was taking in some areas, leading him to the decision to step down.
Jayawardene remains the second-most successful coach in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and currently holds the position of Global Head of Performance at Mumbai Indians and its franchises.
Interestingly, the article notes that the recently appointed cricket consultant, Sanath Jayasuriya, traveled with the Sri Lankan team to the ongoing T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies, where the team failed to make it to the Super Eight stage. This suggests some overlap between Jayawardene’s role and Jayasuriya’s newly created position, which was understood to range from strategic and technical planning to the overall development of the national team.
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