Sri Lanka Cricket’s selection committee, including its chief Sanath Jayasuriya, have resigned after poor performance against India.
Sri Lanka Cricket's selection committee has resigned following the team’s poor show in the recent Test and ODI series against India at home. The committee is headed by former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya. The development was confirmed by SLC vice president Mohan de Silva. The announcement comes two days after the hosts lost the third ODI in Pallekele, and conceded the five-match series 3-0. Sri Lanka were also whitewashed 0-3 in the Test series preceding the limited-overs series. A new set of selectors is likely to be named over the course of the next three weeks.
According to ESPNCricInfo, as they had already picked the squads for the last two ODIs and sole T20 of the India tour, they will remain in force in case any additions need to be made. The committee will step down after the tour concludes, two months after they had been given a six-month extension that would have taken them through until the end of the year.
"Sri Lanka Cricket chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, as well as committee members Ranjith Madurasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha and Eric Upashantha, have decided to resign," Sri Lanka's sports ministry said. "A combined letter bearing the names of the above committee has conveyed this decision to sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. According to the letter, their tenure will end on September 7."
The past few months has seen rapidly mounting pressure on Jayasuriya's committee to step down. Earlier in the year, there had been an unprecedented ODI series loss to Zimbabwe, an unprecedented Test loss to Bangladesh, a torrid tour of South Africa, and a disappointing Champions Trophy campaign.
This was Jayasuriya's second stint as chief selector. Counting his first tenure, which ran for two years, he has had the job for three of the past four years. Despite Sri Lanka's recent failures, however, the same selection committee had also been in force when Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia in the Test series last year. Sri Lanka's next international assignment will be the tour of the UAE and Pakistan, which is expected to begin in late September.
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