Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed former first-class cricketer Jerome Jayaratne as the national team manager for the Islanders' upcoming tour of the West Indies.
Jayaratne was appointed, as the present team manager, Asantha De Mel has decided to step down from the position due to personal reasons, effective from the end of the England tour of Sri Lanka.
Jayaratne currently functions as the chief cricket operations officer of the SLC and his appointment as the team manager is an interim measure.
"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Jerome Jayaratne as the 'National Team Manager' for the team's upcoming tour of West Indies," SLC said in an official statement.
Jayaratne previously held the position of Chief Operations Officer at the SLC. He also functioned as the interim coach of the national team on a number of overseas tours and most recently served as a consultant to the national team.
England clinched the Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0 on Monday. Dominic Sibley hit an unbeaten 56 and Jos Buttler made a 48-ball 46 as England chased down 164 to defeat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second Test at the Galle International Stadium.
Root was awarded both Man of the Match and Series for his impeccable form with the bat. The England skipper had scored 186 in the first innings of the second Test and this knock followed the 200-run innings in the first Test.
Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal on Monday said that the side needs to bat like visiting skipper Root. According to Chandimal, England outplayed the hosts on the fourth day of the second Test and the prior hard work went in vain for Sri Lanka.
"We were outplayed today. We did all the hard work over the last three days, but as a batting unit, we made the same mistakes we made in the first Test on the first day. We need to learn to bat like Root. We need to be patient with the bat. We did well in patches, but it isn't good enough against a team like England," said Chandimal.
"Credit to them, they did really well. Even I didn't understand the collapse. I played a rash shot, so I take the responsibility. But nobody in our lineup took responsibility. A score of 250 would have been good on this wicket," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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