Former Sri Lanka Batter Mahela Jayawardene was appointed as the national team’s ‘consultant coach’ in December 2021. Sri Lanka Cricket’s Executive Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee together took the decision to appoint Mahela for the post.
As per the SLC, Jayawardene’s duty was to take charge of the national teams’ entire cricketing aspects and to give strategic assistance to the players and management. Reacting to his appointment, Mahela had said that he is really passionate about Sri Lankan cricket and hopes to achieve constant success with the team in future.
“I am very passionate about Sri Lankan cricket and believe that with a coordinated and focused team effort, taking a holistic approach working across all age groups, we can achieve consistent success in the future.” Mahela had said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Mahela Jayawardene questioned for his commitment towards the national team
The Indian team recently whitewashed Sri Lanka in the 3-match T20I series. Before that, The Sri Lankan team was defeated 1-4 in Australia. Now in an article for ‘The Island’, Sri Lankan cricket writer Rex Clementine has questioned Mahela Jayawardene’s commitment towards the national team. He criticised Mahela for not being available with the team during the tough tours of Australia and India.
“The highest paid employ of any cricket board is their captain or the senior most player. But in Sri Lanka it is not Angelo Mathews or Dimuth Karunaratne. It’s MJ. But his commitment to Sri Lankan cricket could be questioned. Tours of India and Australia are the toughest ones. But he’s not in the dressing room when players need him most. He’s supposed to be providing instructions virtually. When he pulled out after the qualifying round of the World Cup in UAE due to family reasons, people didn’t ask questions. But now you get the feeling whether he’s pulling a fast one. Surely, Ambanis are not going to allow him to take a break middle of IPL.”, Rex wrote.
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