Technical Committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya to probe into Sri Lanka’s failure to directly qualify for CWC 2023

Sanath Jayasuriya. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe has appointed a technical committee that will be investigating the reasons behind the country’s failure to get direct qualification for the upcoming mega event scheduled to take place later this year in India. Sri Lanka’s hopes of direct qualification for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 were crushed after their loss to New Zealand in the third ODI at Hamilton last month.

The technical committee is headed by the legendary cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya and comprises three other former national players. Notably, they made their first public appearance on Tuesday, April 11. Talking to the media, Jayasuriya said that they will be asking the coaching management about the reasons behind the team’s failure.

“We will ask the coaching management the reasons for not winning the automatic qualification. They must also give us a short-term plan to improve things. These are a talented bunch of players and they should be given the necessary confidence,” said Jayasuriya, who was the Player of the Tournament during Sri Lanka’s World Cup win in 1996, told reporters as per News18.

Sri Lanka have played every world cup since the tournament’s inception in 1975 and won the coveted trophy in the 1996 edition. Moreover, they finished as runner-ups in the 2007 and 2011 editions, respectively. The island nation will be playing in the qualifying tournament for the first time to get a chance to play in the biggest tournament of international cricket.

Ten teams to compete in the qualifying tournament for two spots left for CWC 2023

Sri Lanka’s chances for automatic qualification got derailed after they lost the three-match ODI series against New Zealand by 0-2 in March. Consequently, they failed to move up to the eighth spot in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League table. Eight teams were slotted for direct qualification for the ODI World Cup and seven have already qualified for the marquee tournament, while South Africa and Ireland are in contention to seal the eighth spot.

The Dasun Shanaka-led will now play in the qualifying tournament along with nine other teams in Zimbabwe between June 18 and July 9. Out of these ten teams, only two will qualify for the World Cup. Sri Lanka will be fighting for a slot alongside Zimbabwe and West Indies.

The ODI World Cup will be held later this year in October-November in India, a country which has hosted the tournament twice before.