Thilan Samaraweera appointed as batting coach of Sri Lanka

Former cricketer Thilan Samaraweera will be Sri Lanka’s next batting coach and will stay up to 2019 World Cup, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Thilanga Sumathipala has confirmed. The new appointment was completed on Monday when Samaraweera arrived back to the homeland from Melbourne, where he lives.

He will now travel with the senior men team for the tour of India, where they set to play three Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. During the tour, Samaraweera will have to leave the team as he has some personal commitment which may affect team’s confidence.

The role of batting coach is first for the 41-year-old former middle-order batsman. Previously, he had stints with Bangladesh since September last year and a brief assignment with Australia during their tour of Sri Lanka. Right now, he will replace Hasan Tillakaratne, who had taken up the role on a temporary basis in July ahead of India‘s visit to Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne will now go back to his role as batting coach of Sri Lanka’s developmental squads.

Left Sri Lanka after retiring

Samaraweera, who left Sri Lanka for Australia after retiring from Test cricket in 2013, will leave for Kolkata on November 5. Sri Lanka will have eight days to settle down in India before their first Test in Kolkata. The former renowned middle order batsman earned a reputation for his planing during his stint with Bangladesh.

He started his career off-spinner, and he played alongside Muttiah Muralitharan. So he concentrated heavily on batting and after several consistent performances for Sri Lanka ‘A’, made his Test debut in 2001.

He scored over 5000 Test runs at an average of 48. In 2011, after being controversially dropped for the third Test against Australia at his home ground – Sinhalese Sports Club, where he averaged 77 in Tests, Samaraweera was brought back for the tour of South Africa later that year and made back to back hundreds against a solid attack.