ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Mahela Jayawardene Joins Sri Lanka Cricket Team As Consultant Coach To Provide Strategic Planning

Former Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene joined the Sri Lankan World Cup squad on Friday. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will begin in Australia on October 16 and the final will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, on Sunday, November 13.

Sri Lanka bounced back from the defeat against Afghanistan and went unbeaten in the remaining matches of the Asia Cup. The Lions defeated Pakistan by 23 runs in the final and won the first T20 Asia Cup title. Sri Lanka enters the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 with renewed confidence after winning the Asia Cup 2022.

Mahela Jayawardene Joined As Consultant Coach

The CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced last month that Jayawardene would join the Sri Lanka cricket squad as a consultant coach.

One of the world’s finest batters, Mahela Jayawardene has joined the side as a Consultant Coach and will mainly provide the important strategic planning, while the head coach, Chris Silverwood, will continue to manage the team’s training and conditioning.

Sri Lanka were drawn in Group ‘A’ in the qualifying rounds along with Namibia, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka will open their ICC T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against Namibia at the Symonds Stadium in Geelong on Sunday, October 18, before taking on the UAE on Sunday. They will face the Netherlands on October 20.

Jayawardene was instrumental in bolstering an inexperienced Sri Lankan side in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in the UAE last year, with the islanders winning three group stage matches and two out of five Super 12 group games.

The Sri Lanka squad completed three days of training in Melbourne after arriving in Australia on Thursday. They started training yesterday after taking a day off on Friday.

According to team sources, all members are at full capacity and have shown great promise as they prepare to play two warm-up matches before the World Cup. Dasun Shanaka’s team will face Zimbabwe in their first warm-up game on Tuesday in Melbourne. They will play a second warm-up game against Ireland on Thursday.

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