Sanath Jayasuriya has decided to step down as Sri Lanka men's head coach. He announced his decision following Sri Lanka's narrow loss to Pakistan, that match ending the team's World Cup journey. Although he had not officially informed SLC of this decision, he said he had already decided this World Cup would be his last assignment in the role.
"I thought it was time to give it to someone else," said Jayasuriya. "That's why about two months ago I'd said during the England series that I don't have hopes of staying in the job for long. I'd taken this decision by then. I thought I'd be able to leave as coach on a good note in the World Cup. I wasn't able to do that as well as I'd like, and I'm sad about that."
Although Jayasuriya was stepping down, he didn't quite confirm that he would do so immediately. Sri Lanka have a limited-overs tour against Afghanistan that was scheduled to begin on March 13 (although that series is now under threat because of hostilities in West Asia), which may be one the board wishes him to remain for.
"My contract runs till June," he said. "I haven't given SLC any news officially yet. They don't know that I am going to say this even. I will need to go and discuss with them. If they can get somebody [to coach the team] then definitely [they should do that]."
Jayasuriya took over as Sri Lanka head coach soon after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Many of his better accomplishments came in his first few months. Sri Lanka recorded their first ODI bilateral series win against India in 27 years in August 2024, before going on to win a Test at The Oval in September that year, then beating New Zealand 2-0 at home soon after, also in Tests.
"Over the last one-and-a-half years I was able to bring the team from where we were. In ODIs we were ranked eighth or ninth and we didn't even qualify for a Champions Trophy. But I was able to bring us to No. 4. I've brought the Test team to No. 6, and the T20 team is also sixth or seventh [they currently sit at eighth].
"I didn't do it alone. My support staff gave me incredible assistance. From day one I asked them to help me, because I didn't have a lot of experience as a coach. But I was able to manage it because of the cricket I'd played."
The last year of Jayasuriya's tenure has been characterised by failures in the shortest format, Sri Lanka's four consecutive losses to crash out of a home T20 World Cup chief among them. Sri Lanka had also been modest in the Asia Cup in 2025, and had underwhelmed in the T20I tri-series in Pakistan last year.
Jayasuriya had previously served as chief selector in two separate stints.
