Gary Kirsten has officially been appointed as the new head coach of the Sri Lanka men’s national cricket team, with Sri Lanka Cricket confirming the decision on Monday. The former South African opener will begin his role on April 15, 2026, under a two-year contract that will run until April 14, 2028.
Kirsten takes over the position from legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, whose tenure comes to an end after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Jayasuriya initially stepped into the coaching role as an interim replacement following the resignation of Chris Silverwood in July 2024. Later that year, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed Jayasuriya as the full-time head coach, with his contract running from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2026.
However, Sri Lanka’s campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 ended earlier than expected. Although the team progressed to the Super Eights stage, they lost all three matches in that round and finished at the bottom of their group. Following the disappointing results, Jayasuriya indicated that the global tournament would be his final assignment as head coach.
Before Jayasuriya’s stint, Silverwood had stepped down from the role citing personal reasons and the need to spend more time with his family after long periods away due to international coaching responsibilities.
With Kirsten’s appointment, Sri Lanka Cricket hopes to bring stability and experience to the national setup. The former South African opener has an impressive coaching résumé. He famously guided India national cricket team to victory in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup during his tenure as head coach from 2008 to 2011. After that, he also coached the South Africa national cricket team, helping them reach the No.1 ranking across all formats in 2013.
More recently, Kirsten served as a consultant for Cricket Namibia during the 2026 T20 World Cup.
As a player, Kirsten enjoyed a successful international career representing South Africa between 1993 and 2004. Across Test and One Day International cricket, he scored 14,087 runs including 21 Test centuries and 13 ODI hundreds.
One of his main objectives with Sri Lanka will be preparing the national side for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be hosted by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka Cricket has also said that Kirsten’s arrival is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the structure of the National High Performance Centre and improve the country’s long-term cricket development.