MJ signs one year deal with SLC

by Rex Clementine

The Cricket Committee headed by former captain Aravinda de Silva has pulled off a major win as they have convinced former captain Mahela Jayawardene to have an active role in coaching the national team and developing squads. Accordingly, Mahela will sign a one year deal with SLC that will see him working with the national team, ‘A’ team and Under-19 team.

Mahela will have a three month window to be involved in the IPL where he has had tremendous success coaching Mumbai Indians, the franchise owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani. It is learned that he has accepted the role on the condition that he will primarily work based in Sri Lanka and his overseas travel with the team will be minimal.

Accordingly, Mahela’s first assignment will be the upcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean. He has already played a role in providing input in the composition of the World Cup squad.

Mahela had a stint with the national team during this year’s T-20 World Cup in UAE and there was lot of appreciation from the players and coaching staff for the role he played

The Cricket Committee over the next week will decide on the coaching and management structure of the national team. There have been many applicants for the post of Head Coach and after careful consideration, a suitable candidate will be chosen. Earlier, the Cricket Committee had indicated that they are looking at a local Head Coach.

The national cricket team’s next assignment is the tour of Australia where they will play five T-20 Internationals followed by the tour of India where Sri Lanka will be involved in Test and T-20 cricket.

Sri Lanka will host Pakistan and Australia in 2022 in Test match cricket while touring New Zealand for a Test and limited overs series.

Sri Lanka made a good start to their ICC World Test Championship campaign a fortnight ago when they beat West Indies 2-0 in Galle and collected all 24 points on offer.

The T-20 World Cup next year to be held in Australia is another key event. Having done so well in this year’s tournament, where Sri Lanka won five of their eight games, the hopes of an impressive campaign in 2022 are high.