• Gary Kirsten has been appointed head coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team on a two-year deal starting 15 April.
• Kirsten replaces Sanath Jayasuriya after Sri Lanka’s early exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
• Jayasuriya will move into a new role as director of the National High Performance Centre, overseeing elite player development.

Sri Lanka named former South African Test player Gary Kirsten as their new coach on Monday after Sanath Jayasuriya quit following the team’s early exit from the T20 World Cup.

Sri Lanka Cricket said Kirsten would begin a two-year contract on 15 April, even though Jayasuriya’s contract was not set to expire until the end of June.

Kirsten previously served as India coach from 2008 to 2011, and as South Africa coach from 2011 to 2013.

His appointment was part of Sri Lanka’s “efforts to revamp the structure of the National High Performance Centre” responsible for training elite players, the board said in a statement.

Jayasuriya told AFP that he would be the centre’s director.

“I will be overall in charge of training and will continue to work with the team,” he said.

Jayasuriya was appointed coach in July 2024. He is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketers, playing 586 internationals, scoring 42 centuries and taking 440 wickets between 1989 and 2011.

Sri Lanka co-hosted the T20 World Cup with eventual winners India but crashed out at the Super Eights stage, their fate sealed by a 61-run defeat to New Zealand.

Kirsten is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most respected figures in cricket, having achieved success both as a player and later as a coach.

An accomplished opening batsman for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, Kirsten accumulated more than 7,000 runs in Test cricket and over 6,700 in One-Day Internationals. Among his standout performances was an unbeaten 188 against United Arab Emirates national cricket team during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, one of the most dominant innings in the tournament’s history.

After retiring from international cricket, Kirsten transitioned seamlessly into coaching. He enjoyed remarkable success with India, guiding them to victory at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and overseeing their rise to No. 1 in the ICC Test rankings in 2009.

The 58-year-old also had stints with Pakistan and Namibia, while he has also been influential in franchise cricket.

He has contributed to championship-winning campaigns in the Indian Premier League, further cementing his reputation as one of the game’s most respected cricket minds.