Sanath Jayasuriya unfit to become coach

In the aftermath of the gut-wrenching performance of the Sri Lankan Men’s Cricket Team at the T20 World Cup, Chris Silverwood quit his job, resulting in the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as interim coach. Although the former Sri Lankan cricketer has numerous skeletons in his cupboard, he is portrayed in a positive light by both mainstream as well as social media. His misdemeanours have never been adequately highlighted by the country’s journos for some reason or the other.

People have forgotten that Jayasuriya was banned by the ICC in 2019 from all cricket-related activities for two years after he had admitted breaching two counts of the ICC’s anti-corruption code. The former Sri Lankan opening batsman admitted the allegations of failing to cooperate with an investigation into corruption apart from delaying or obstructing the inquiry. The country’s administrative body of the game – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) – has made a horrendous decision by appointing an individual in the calibre of Jayasuriya for the post of coach even though it is for a short period of time. The appalling move by the SLC needs to be severely admonished as it has demonstrated its lenience towards corruption, particularly in an environment where not so long ago, Sri Lanka was considered as a place where corruption in terms of match/spot fixing thrives by the ICC.

It is well known that not every successful sportsman can replicate the same level of success as a coach. Coaching requires a different set of skills, and the former cricketer-turned politician has no coaching credentials to speak of. Neither has he followed any formal course or program related to coaching nor has he got any prior coaching experience even at club level. The former Matara District MP’s act of asking cricketers to get rid of fancy hair styles and earrings was nothing but a cheap effort to gain acceptance among narrow-minded Facebook faultfinders who attribute the poor performance of cricketers to their fondness towards fashion and style. Isn’t Jayasuriya aware that legendary Lasith Malinga indulged in all sorts of fashion during his playing career, and it did not have any adverse impact on his performance?

The interim coach who belongs to Generation X is certainly out of touch with the interests and lifestyles of Millennials and Gen Z youngsters. All of them are adults and the former politician should not behave like an arrogant school master. Instead, he needs to focus on improving the fitness and game awareness of players without trying to become a hero among Facebook pundits who are averse to the colourful hair styles of cricketers for reasons that are best known to themselves.

The controversial former cricketer does not come across as an astute and intelligent tactician like his Indian counterpart Gautam Gambhir, who successfully mentored the franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in the IPL recently. During the T20 match last Tuesday, his short-sighted decision to send unreliable Wannindu Hasaranga ahead of other regular batsmen precipitated an unwarranted batting collapse and added extra pressure on lower-order batsmen.

The downfall of Sri Lankan cricket coincided with the former Sri Lankan captain becoming Chairman of the Selection Committee in 2016. His disastrous tenure as Chief Selector was characterised by lack of strategic thinking, indecisiveness, and favouritism. Ramith Rambukwella – who gained notoriety for mistakenly attempting to open a cabin door of a British Airways aircraft, thinking it was the door to the toilet – played only two international T20 encounters and he got both those opportunities when Jayasuriya headed the Selection Committee. The latter was accused of favouring the son of the then powerful politician while depriving the chances of deserving, talented cricketers.

It is unfortunate that an individual who should be barred completely from having any involvement with the most popular sport in the island has been given an influential position. His association with the national cricket team would make things bad to worse.