Hashan Tillakaratne appointed Sri Lankan women’s team head coach

The musical chair of Sri Lanka women’s head coach has now stopped at former World Cup winner Hashan Tillakaratne who has been appointed as the head coach of the team on Tuesday, June 01. The former Sri Lankan player has been given a six-year contract as of now with the team.

Tillakaratne is not new to the coaching field, as he has several years of experience working at various levels in Sri Lankan cricket, being the head coach of the Under-19 team and also a batting coach of Sri Lanka emerging team.

He takes over from Lanka De Silva and now has a major task in his hand to get Sri Lankan cricket back to winning ways. During his playing days, Tillakaratne was known for his gritty and dogged style of batting and would never give his wicket easily. These are the same attributes that he would like to bring to the table to the Sri Lankan cricket team who are struggling to break into the top four.

“The Sri Lankan Cricket wished to announce the appointment of Mr. Hashan Tillakaratne as the head coach of the National Women’s Team. The appointment came into effect from 1st June 2021,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) posted on its website.

Hashan Tillakaratne has a big task ahead

While Tillakaratne’s contract expires on December 31, in all likelihood, the former middle-order batter will get a fresh deal from SLC, keeping in mind the ICC women’s World Cup coming up early next year. The appointment of Tillakaratne has not come as surprise to people who know him, since he is widely regarded as one the best coaches in the country due to his understanding of the game at grassroots levels.

Sri Lanka were last seen in action in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, where they failed to reach the semi-finals. The COVID-19 has hampered the progress of the team and now with the 50 overs World Cup being just over seven months away, Tillakaratne has a task in his hand to first enable the team qualifies for the global event by winning the Qualifiers of the tournament. As Sri Lanka finished outside the top four, they now have to compete in the Qualifiers before entering the World Cup.