Mahela Jayawardene rejects BCCI’s offer to coach Team India after T20 World Cup 2021

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri is parting ways with the job at the end of his tenure, after the conclusion of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

With Shastri not seeking an extension, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started looking for his replacement. Initially, it was expected that Rahul Dravid would be an automatic choice to take over, but the former India skipper will once again be heading the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.

As per media reports, the BCCI is exploring ways to bring back Anil Kumble for head coach role after the T20 World Cup. Before Kumble, the Indian board contacted former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene but he declined their offer. He reportedly wanted to coach the Sri Lankan national cricket team instead.

Another matter of conflict of interest occurred as Jayawardene is also the head coach of the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL, and according to BCCI’s rulebook “a person cannot hold another position when he is the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team.”

Jayawardene will take over the reins of Mumbai Indians in the remaining leg of IPL 2021 that is scheduled to be played in the UAE from September 19 to October 15.

Jayawardene is the coach in demand across franchise leagues currently. He recently won the inaugural edition of The Hundred with Southern Brave in England.

“Having done 18 years of international cricket as a player I don’t want to live out of a suitcase for 12 months of the year. This is a good challenge for me and it’s early days. I don’t do too many tournaments so that I have my personal time to spend back home with the family. I’m happy to help out as a consultant here and there (with Sri Lanka) but not on a full-time basis because I would not enjoy that personally,” he was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.

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