Mahela Jayawardene Declines Offer From Sri Lanka Cricket To Work With Team At World Cup
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has declined an offer to work for his national team in the World Cup. The legendary batsman turned down the offer mainly because he remains disillusioned with Sri Lanka Cricket’s general direction. In the past, Jayawardene had produced plans in order to help Sri Lanka overhaul their domestic cricket scene.
However, Sri Lanka Cricket had only rejected those proposals. Last year, a committee featuring Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva had also produced a report on Sri Lankan cricket, with recommendations on governance as well as domestic structure. But Sri Lanka cricket once again ignore those recommendations from the legendary trio.
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Jayawardene has revealed that he had offers from Sri Lanka Cricket but rejected them because of his non-involvement in overall structure. He also made it clear that while he is happy to make little contributions to the team management, he would not get involved with the board.
“I was [invited] but I have several other commitments. More than that, I didn’t understand the role I am expected to play,” Mahela Jayawardene told Sunday Times. “There’s no point in me getting involved tactically, or whatever, if I don’t have a say in the whole structure. The team is selected and everything is done and dusted. There is no room for me to come in and add something.
“I am still happy to contribute in my little way with the management of the team, but nothing to do with the SLC. That’s something I have told myself as well. I just don’t have the appetite to come and work for anybody when I know that it’s not the right place for me,” added Jayawardene who recently coached Mumbai Indians to the IPL title.
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One of the finest batsmen to have played for Sri Lanka, Jayawardene retired from the ODIs after the 2015 World Cup. The batting legend played 149 Tests, 448 ODIs and 44 T20Is and scored more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. He also captained Sri Lanka for a brief period of time. He is currently plying his trade as a coach.
