Appointments of local coaches like Naveed Nawaz, Lanka De Silva, Jehan Mubarak, Ruwan Kalpage, Thilina Kandambi, Sampath Parera, Avishka Gunawardene for National under 19, emerging, and Sri Lanka ‘A’ teams were ratified by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Executive Committee on Monday, Cricket Age reliably learns.
“The appointments were ratified on the recommendations of Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), with a view of utilizing local talents in national coaching setup” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
Among the new arrivals, former National player Naveed Nawaz, who is currently serving as Bangladesh Under-19 coach, has been drafted as “Assistant head coach”. Already an U19 World Cup winning coach, Nawaz is considered a shrewd tactician and innovative coach.
Lanka de Silva, who was with Sri Lanka women’s team as assistant and fielding coach, has made big strides in domestic cricket with his coaching skills.
National Under 19 head coach position is given to Jehan Mubarak, while Sampath Perera is named as his assistant. While Mubarak is regarded highly for his work ethic and discipline, Sampath is notorious for misbehavior! His only qualification is that he was associated with TAC chairman Aravinda De Silva’s coaching academy in Dubai.
Thilina Kandamby posseses good records in domestic tournaments such as National Super League Limited-over champion Jaffna team coach and also two LPL tournaments champion Jaffna team coach.
Kalpage, in past, was solely responsible for ruining former Sri Lanka Right-arm off spinner Suraj Randiv’s bowling action.
Gunawardene was already drafted as batting coach for Sri Lanka senior team’s recently concluded test series against India. While Sri Lankan bowlers, especially spinners, troubled world class batsmen like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and others, their batters, under Avishka’s watch, faltered big time and looked clueless! A highly overrated and over hyped coach, Gunawardene is flying high on Mahela Jayawardene’s wings!
