Sanath Jayasuriya to step down as Sri Lanka head coach following T20 World Cup 2026 exit

Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya on Saturday announced that he would be stepping down from the role after his team’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eights stage.

“I thought I should give that title to someone else. That’s why I mentioned two months ago during the England series that I have no plans to stay here. So, I said that after making that decision. I thought after the World Cup, I would be able to leave here on a good note. I couldn’t do that as much as I thought. I feel sorry about that,” Jayasuriya said after Sri Lanka’s five-run loss to Pakistan in Kandy.

However, Jayasuriya, whose contract runs till June 2026, did not reveal if he would be in charge of the upcoming white-ball series against Afghanistan, which will be played from March 13 to 25.

“Since I have told this [here], I haven’t had a discussion with Sri Lanka Cricket. They don’t know that I’m going to say this, but I’m going to have a chat with them for sure. I have told them that if they can get a replacement, definitely yes,” Jayasuriya said.

The former international had been at the helm since July 2024 and started his tenure with a historic One-Day series win over India at home. He then led Sri Lanka to a Test match win in England.

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Reflecting on his time with the team, Jayasuriya said, “I have taken this team forward in the one-and-a-half years of my time. We did not even qualify for the Champions Trophy, but I took that team to number four in ODIs. I brought the Test team to number six; I also brought the T20 team to sixth. For all those, I took the team with an overall winning rate of 50 per cent. I didn’t do that alone; my support staff gave me huge support for that. From the first day I started, I asked them to help me. So, I think I can be happy about what I did.”

Jayasuriya, however, admitted to the underwhelming end that his tenure will see with the T20 World Cup exit. Sri Lanka had a sprightly start in the group stage, where it beat Australia, but lost four straight games, including three in the Super Eights round, and crashed out.

Going forward, Jayasuriya demanded consistent performances from the batting and bowling units.

“It was a bit unfortunate that after the 2014 World Cup, we had not even qualified for a Super Eights. After a long time, we did, and that was good. But consistent performance is the key. If you want to do well as a team, you need to click with both batting and bowling. We have players, but we need to perform under pressure. So, there are a few things we still need to get right at the moment,” Jayasuriya said.

Jayasuriya also issued an apology for letting down the fans, who turned up in big numbers to support the side in each of its seven games.

“I’m very sorry about the spectators, because I know how they had faith in the team. I think from the first match, they gave their full support. So, I’m forever thankful for that. They may be worried, maybe they were angry with us, we have to accept that, because cricket is the only sport they have. We have to understand how they feel sad when we don’t play well. We have to be humble,” he said.

Published on Mar 01, 2026