Jayasuriya will leave the post of head coach of Sri Lanka… decision taken after the team’s poor performance in the T20 World Cup

Colombo. After Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the T20 World Cup 2026, head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down from his post. He announced his decision after Sri Lanka’s close defeat to Pakistan. Sri Lanka also faced defeat in their last Super-8 match, thus ending their disappointing campaign. Although Jayasuriya has not officially informed SLC about this decision, but he said that he had already decided that this World Cup would be his last assignment in this role.

Jayasuriya said, “I felt that the time had come to give this job to someone else. That is why about two months ago, during the England series, I had said that I did not expect to continue in this job for long. I had taken this decision by then. I thought that I would be able to leave the post of coach with a good performance in the World Cup. I could not do as well as I wanted, and I am sad about that.”

Although Jayasuriya is stepping down, he did not confirm that he would do so immediately. Sri Lanka are scheduled to undertake a limited-overs tour against Afghanistan starting on March 13 (though that series is now in jeopardy due to hostilities in the Middle East), for which the board wants him to remain.

He said, “My contract is till June. I have not given any official news to SLC yet. They don’t know that I am even going to say this. I will have to go and talk to them. If they appoint someone [टीम को कोच करने के लिए] can definitely bring [उन्हें ऐसा करना चाहिए]”

Jayasuriya took over as head coach of Sri Lanka immediately after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Many of his better achievements came in his first few months. Sri Lanka recorded its first ODI bilateral series win in 27 years against India in August 2024, followed by winning a Test at The Oval in September the same year, then soon after defeated New Zealand 2–0 at home, also in a Test.