Kumar Sangakkara frontrunner to coach England in white-ball cricket

Former Sri Lanka National Cricket Team skipper Kumar Sangakkara has emerged as a hot contender to take over the role of the head coach of the England National Cricket Team in the white-ball format.

As per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, it is learned that the Rajasthan Royals head coach is the favourite to take over the role.

England white-ball head coach position has been vacant for a while. This comes after Matthew Mott stepped down from the role following the team's poor outing in the T20 World Cup 2024.

The defending champions were thrashed by the India National Cricket Team in the semi-final and also were not up to the mark in the league stage.

Following the poor outing of the team in the T20 World Cup 2024, Matthew Mott's position as a head coach came under scanner.

There were reports that he might get sacked, but before it could happen, he resigned from the post even after he mentioned that he was the right guy to take the team forward.

Since Matthew Mott has stepped down from the role, the England and Wales Cricket Board is on the hunt to find a new head coach in white-ball.

Currently, Marcus Trescothick has been given the responsibility, and the former player of the team will act as interim coach during Australia's tour in September.

There have been quite a few names floating for the role of the head coach of the England National Cricket Team.

Red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and a few others are among the talked about names to take the role.

Kumar Sangakkara favourite to become England's coach

Among all the names, Kumar Sangakkara seems to be the prime candidate to take over the role.

The biggest challenge for ECB is to get a coach who stays in the United Kingdom because the issue of time away from family and relocating is putting questions in the minds of many candidates.

But for Kumar Sangakkara, the issue isn't there as he is based in Dorset and so would not have to relocate to fulfil the job. The former Sri Lanka National Cricket Team skipper also expressed his desire to take over the role, saying that it's "an exciting prospect" to be the head coach of the England team.

Kumar Sangakkara bonds well with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Rob Key.

The duo has worked together on Sky Sports, and also Sangakkara's performance as head coach has been impressive. One of the things that might work in his favour is his record as the coach of the team under transition.

Kumar Sangakkara guided Rajasthan Royals to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after the mega auction. Therefore, with quite a few things going in his favour, he is the favourite to take over the role of the head coach of the England white-ball team.

He also shares a great working relationship with white-ball captain Jos Buttler, as they both are part of the same franchise in the league.