Sri Lanka Cricket Appoints Gary Kirsten as New Men's Head Coach After T20 World Cup Exit

Colombo. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board has appointed South African cricket legend Gary Kirsten as the new head coach of the men's national team. Following Sri Lanka's lackluster performance and exit from the Super Eight stage in the recently concluded 2026 T20 World Cup, the board has made significant changes to the team structure and handed the responsibility to Kirsten.

He has signed a two-year contract, effective from April 15, until April 14, 2028. Kirsten is considered the highest-profile coach in Sri Lanka's cricket history to date.

Kirsten's arrival follows the resignation of Sanath Jayasuriya, who served as interim and full-time coach. Although Sri Lanka achieved historic success under Jayasuriya by winning an ODI series against India for the first time in 27 years, criticism arose regarding the lack of clarity in the team's batting strategy and performance at the World Cup. Jayasuriya will now lead the High-Performance Center, while Kirsten will attempt to bring the national team back into the rhythm of modern cricket.

Gary Kirsten's coaching track record is highly impressive. Under his leadership, India won the 2011 ODI World Cup, and South Africa reached the top spot in the Test rankings. Recently, he also worked as a consultant for the Namibia team.

As a player, he scored over 14,000 international runs for South Africa. Sri Lanka expects Kirsten to replicate the success achieved during the tenure of previous foreign coaches like Dav Whatmore, Tom Moody, and Trevor Bayliss.

The 2027 ODI World Cup is set to be hosted in Kirsten's home country, South Africa, along with Namibia and Zimbabwe. The board believes his deep knowledge of the conditions and grounds there will greatly benefit Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Cricket views Kirsten as a 'game changer' to take the national team's structure and performance to new heights. His main challenge will be to instill a winning culture within the team and clarify roles for the players.