Sri Lanka cricket have decided to replace their head coach Sanath Jayasuriya after the recent disappointment in the T20 World Cup 2026, where the co-hosts of the tournament failed to progress to the knockout stages. Notably, Jayasuriya had stepped down after his team’s exit in the Super 8 stages. The former Sri Lanka opener will now be replaced by World Cup-winning coach with India and former South Africa cricketer Gary Kirsten.
The news of the same was confirmed by Sri Lanka cricket via their official social media handles. He has been signed on a two-year contract starting from April 15, 2026 and will end on April 14, 2028.
A statement from SLC read, “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten as the new head coach of the national men’s team, effective from 15 April,
2026.”
Interestingly, prior to accepting his new role with SLC, Gary Kirsten was part of the T20 World Cup 2026 with the Namibia cricket team as a consultant but couldn’t help the team cross the group stage, where they lost all 4 matches against India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands and finished bottom.
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Kirsten’s biggest success as a coach was leading the India team to the 2011 ODI World Cup title. He also managed the Proteas side from 2011-2013 and during his tenure, helped the rainbow nation become the No.1 team in all formats of the game. The 58-year-old has also plied his trade with Pakistan as their white-ball coach in 2024 but resigned just six months later due to internal conflicts within the administration.
With Sri Lanka, Kirsten’s main responsibility will be to guide the side in the 2027 ODI World Cup, slated to be held primarily in South Africa with Namibia and Zimbabwe also hosting some matches. Gary Kirsten will shoulder major hopes and try and break the jinx where Sri Lanka have not won any ICC trophy for more than a decade with their last success coming in the 2014 T20 World Cup where they outplayed India to win the title.
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