Picture Credit: Twitter
The T20 World Cup will be back after five long years in the UAE and teams don’t want to miss out on anything. The squads have already been announced, seeing the conditions in the UAE. Sri Lanka, who will have to play qualifiers to find a place in the Super 12, have tried to plug all the holes possible.
The Sri Lankan team will play under the leadership of Dasun Shanaka, who has helped the team redeem itself to some extent after a series of poor performances. To help Shanaka and the Sri Lankan team to break into the Super 12, SLC has decided to appoint their former captain Mahela Jayawardene as the team’s ‘consultant’ for the initial qualifiers stage. Jayawardene will work as consultant cum mentor from 16-23 October when the team will play Namibia, Ireland, and the Netherlands to try to qualify for the group stages.
‘’We are very happy to welcome Mahela into his new roles, as his presence with the Sri Lanka Team and the U19 Team is going to help the players immensely. From his playing days, Mahela was respected for the vast cricketing knowledge he brought into the game, first as a player, then as a Captain, now as a Coach for different teams,’’ said Ashley De Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket on Jayawardene’s appointment. Apart from working as a consultant with the senior team, Jayawardene will join the Sri Lanka Under 19 team for the ICC U19 World Cup in the West Indies.
Jayawardene will join the team’s bubble immediately after IPL
As Mahela Jayawardene is currently associated with the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians as their head coach, he is in the UAE for the second leg of IPL 2021. The Sri Lankan will immediately join Sri Lanka’s bio-bubble after the IPL ends on 15 October. Sri Lanka has been placed in Group A alongside Netherlands, Ireland, and Namibia. They will play Namibia, Ireland, and Netherlands on 18, 20 and 22 October respectively in the Group Stages.