Report Card of outgoing Sri Lanka Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya

A report card on Sanath Jayasuriya’s tenure as Sri Lanka head coach, assessing achievements, challenges, and overall impact on the team.

Since the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as Sri Lanka’s head coach, they have carried a win-loss ratio of 0.878 with 29 victories in 65 games across formats. That’s not a developed performance in terms of results at all under Jayasuriya’s coaching.

Between the beginning of 2023 and September 2024, they won 40 international games in 79 clashes at a win-loss ratio of 1.142. Head coach Jayasuriya won the Test series and ODI series against New Zealand and India, respectively. But he was the interim coach of the side during that period after Chris Silverwood’s resignation. 

Even since October 2025, Sri Lanka haven’t recorded a single international series victory, with the best coming in the drawn T20I series against Pakistan. Undoubtedly, Jayasuriya has structured the discipline, confidence, and a stable system in Sri Lanka’s cricket. However, across the three formats, they haven’t earned enough results.

Sri Lanka show development with T20I win-loss ratio of 0.80 under Sanath Jayasuriya
Between the beginning of 2023 and the end of September in 2024, Sri Lanka were decent with eight wins in 14 Tests. They also earned 24 ODI victories in 43 encounters at a win-loss ratio of 1.41. But they struggled massively with only eight wins in 22 T20I fixtures.

Fig 1: Sri Lanka’s performance between 01 Jan 2023 and 30 Sep 2024

Sri Lanka’s little progress in T20Is
After Jayasuriya became their head coach, the 2014 T20 World Cup-winners made a slight development in the shortest format with a win-loss ratio of 0.80. Meanwhile, they fell flat in the red-ball format with only one win in six games, along with a win-loss ratio of 1.33 in the 50-over formats.

Fig 2: Sri Lanka’s performance since 01 Oct 2024

Sri Lanka’s poor Test batting under Jayasuriya
Since Jayasuriya’s appointment as the head coach, Sri Lanka’s Test average dropped from 36.51 to 25.80. They nearly held the same ODI performance along with the T20Is, in terms of the batting department.

In the previous 19 months before Jayasuriya’s arrival, the Islanders had 22 centuries and 37 fifties in 245 Test innings. However, that record has come down to only two hundreds and 14 half-centuries in 116 red-ball innings.

Fig 3: Sri Lanka’s aggregate batting performance between 01 Jan 2023 and 30 Sep 2024

Fig 4: Sri Lanka’s aggregate batting performance since 01 Oct 2024

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Sri Lanka hold same white-ball bowling show under Jayasuriya
The 1996 ODI World Cup winner didn’t do well in the bowling department of the longest format for the last 17 months. Their overall bowling performance in the 50-over format made a slim dip, along with the 20-over format in the same period.

Fig 5: Sri Lanka’s aggregate bowling performance between 01 Jan 2023 and 30 Sep 2024

Fig 5: Sri Lanka’s aggregate bowling performance since 01 Oct 2024

Sanath Jayasuriya leaves Sri Lanka in better structure and discipline
Sri Lanka were in the rebuild phase with the retirement of several stalwarts that drove their victory in the T20 World Cup 2014. But they unexpectedly showed a few promising performances in the T20 World Cup 2021 campaign. It was even more surprising for them to win the Asia Cup 2022 and finish as the runners-up of the 2023 Asia Cup.

They went through an unbeaten 2023 ODI World Cup qualifying campaign. During the early part of Jayasuriya’s reign as head coach, he took the short-term steps as an immediate priority. When several red-ball specialists flew to South Africa early to prepare their crucial WTC-impacting Test series, four key players were asked to face a raw New Zealand side. Those four players were Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, and Asitha Fernando.

It was evident that Jayasuriya’s management style was focused on tackling the challenge at hand rather than reflecting on the bigger picture. There was a change in approach for the pitch preparation. After the 2023 ODI WC debacle, better batting tracks were curated to provide more challenge to the bowlers and offer the freedom to the batters.

Upon Jayasuriya’s arrival as the head coach, Sri Lanka won five out of the first 10 bilateral series across formats. However, in the last eight series, they pocketed only three, including two series victories against Zimbabwe. Even in the home T20 World Cup 2026, they showed dominance only against Australia and lost all four successive games against Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

No progress in the last few months pushed the former captain to move away from his coaching role silently. He was devastated not to qualify for the semifinals.

‘Our 22 million people around the country really wanted us to be in that semi-final. We feel that sadness. We should say sorry and ask for forgiveness. It was in our hands, and then we let it slip. I don’t know if these players will ever get the chance again to play a World Cup at home.” The former left-handed batter said.

There were a few progresses under him in the batting ground. Their opener, Pathum Nissanka, did well at an average of 37 for his nine fifties and three centuries across the three formats. In the bowling department, Asitha Fernando and Wanindu Hasaranga finished as the joint leading wicket-takers with 47 scalps in 26 matches in Jayasuriya’s tenure.

Sri Lanka have appointed Gary Kirsten as their new head coach. But it will be important to take lessons from the former coach and carry the learning into the future. After the postponed series against Afghanistan, the national team is expected to host India for two Tests in August.

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