Bipin Dani
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who has been working as a consultant for the teams met the SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) board officials on Tuesday, it is learnt here.
According to highly placed sources, the 47-year-old Mahela discussed the reasons for the team’s debacle in the recent World Cup, where he traveled with the national team to India and he also had shown the future plan for the betterment of cricket in the country.
“His contract runs for another three months and didn’t indicate resigning from the post”, one of the sources, who attended the meeting said.
“We are considering hiring the services of another former captain and all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya for the similar post. If all goes well and Sanath accepts the responsibilities, he will be the full-time consultant unlike Mahela, who has been appearing and disappearing. Sanath will also monitor the performance of the coaching staff”, the source further added.
The sports minister, who had handled the portfolio in the past also, has appointed the five-member national selection panel headed by Upul Tharanga. The charge for the new selection anel has come into effect from Tuesday (December 12) itself.
The SLC management had sent a list of 11 candidates for the job and the list also included a few members, including chairman Pramodya Wickramsinghe from the last selection committee, it is understood.
“The Hon. Minister wanted the new faces particularly after the debacle in the World Cup. “According to the minister, the last panel was experimenting with the composition of the team and there was no accountability”m, the source further added.
