Former Test cricketer Asanka Gurusinha is ending his 20 year exile and returning home to be involved with the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Gurusinha, a key member of the Sri Lankan side which won the 1996 World Cup, was announced as the team’s new Cricket Manager, a newly created role to work alongside head coach Graham Ford and team manager Ranjit Fernando.
Gurusinha’s cricket career was brought to an abrupt end a few months after Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumph. He was only 30 when he announced his retirement and migrated to Australia following differences of opinion with the team hierarchy and the board.
“I know that it has taken 20 years for me to come back, but I am very excited and keen,” Gurusinha told Cricbuzz from Melbourne, where he now he resides.
Gurusinha will arrive in Colombo on Saturday (March 4) and will immediately take over the duties with the first Test match against Bangladesh in Galle, starting on March 7, as his first assignment. His contract will run till the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) sources told Cricbuzz that they had been trying to draft Gurusinha as member of the national selection panel as well, following which he will virtually become the selector on tour.
“I have lot of respect for head coach Graham Ford and I am really looking forward to work closely with him,” Gurusinha said in his first interview since the appointment.
At various stages since his departure to Australia, SLC had tried to bring in his expertise to help the team. World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who calls Gurusinha, the unsung hero of Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumph, attempted to bring him in as the coach of ‘A’ team when he headed SLC back in 2008.
“SLC has been constantly in touch with me for different roles. I thought this is the right time for me. This is a very young side and I can add value to this team. I saw the team during the recent T20 series in Australia. I was impressed with their attitude.
“They were a great bunch of guys who were excited to play together and wanted to win. That was the time I decided that I am going to get involved with the team. I want to support this great bunch of guys. I guess my experience in people management will help me develop this young team. These boys are very talented and I am keen to take them to the next level,” concluded Gurusinha.
