Jayasuriya to quit as Sri Lanka head coach after team’s elimination from T20WC

Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down as Sri Lanka’s head coach in the wake of his team’s abysmal performance in the T20 World Cup.

Co-hosts Sri Lanka lost all their games in the Super 8s stage. In the preliminary stage, they were beaten by Zimbabwe and recorded wins against Australia and the lowly Oman and Ireland.

“My contract ends in June but I will go before that, I will be talking to Sri Lanka Cricket to decide my stepping down,” Jayasuriya told reporters after Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan on Saturday.

“We should have done better, I am sorry and I apologize to fans,” Jayasuriya, the player-of-the-tournament when Sri Lanka won the 1996 ODI World Cup, said.

He said Sri Lanka was badly hampered by the injuries to Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana and Kusal Mendis.

“Their replacements could not perform to the levels required. Hasaranga was my best player, you can’t easily find a replacement for him,” Jayasuriya said, blaming both bowler and batter inconsistency for the poor show.

Over the one-and-a-half years of his services, Sri Lanka improved their rankings across formats, Jayasuriya said.