Jayasuriya steps down after disappointing performance in T20 World Cup 2026, World Cup winner takes command

Srilanka changed coach after T20 World Cup: The T20 World Cup 2026 has concluded, but for host Sri Lanka, the tournament was completely contrary to expectations. The Sri Lankan team, which came with the hope of taking advantage of the home conditions, could not perform well in the tournament and its journey ended with a disappointing campaign.

Taking responsibility for the poor performance in this tournament (T20 World Cup), the team’s head coach Sanath Jayasuriya resigned from his post. After this, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has made new changes in the team and announced the appointment of experienced coach Gary Kirsten as the new head coach of the Sri Lanka men’s cricket team.

T20 World Cup: Big responsibility given to Kirsten

Issuing an official statement on Monday, Sri Lanka Cricket said that the tenure of Gary Kirsten will start from 15 April 2026 and will last till 14 April 2028. According to the board, Kirsten’s main goal will be to prepare the team for the upcoming big international tournaments, especially the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.

This tournament will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Sri Lanka Cricket believes that Kirsten’s experience and strategic thinking will improve the team’s performance and the team will once again become competitive on the big stage.

T20 World Cup: Kirsten has immense coaching experience

58-year-old Gary Kirsten is considered a very experienced coach in international cricket. He served as the head coach of the Indian cricket team between 2008 and 2011. Under his guidance, India won the historic ODI World Cup title in 2011.

After India, Kirsten was also the head coach of South Africa from 2011 to 2013. During his tenure, the South African team performed brilliantly and achieved the distinction of becoming the world’s number-1 team in all three formats.

T20 World Cup: India has won the World Cup

If we talk about Kirsten’s cricket career, he has also been a brilliant batsman. He scored 16,670 runs in 221 first-class matches, while he scored 9,586 runs in 294 List-A matches at an average of 36.58. His biggest achievement as a coach has been leading India to win the 2011 ODI World Cup. This is why he is counted among the most successful and respected coaches of the modern era.

T20 World Cup: Did a great job with South Africa too

Gary Kirsten also did an excellent job with the South African team. Under his guidance, in the year 2013, South Africa became the number-1 team in the world in all three formats. Sri Lanka Cricket said in its statement that the appointment of the new head coach is part of the strategy to strengthen the structure of the National High Performance Center and prepare the team for the future. Recently, Kirsten was also associated with Cricket Namibia as a consultant during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.