U.S. lands former Team Canada cricket coach Pubudu Dassanayake
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Fans and players were stunned when Cricket Canada showed Pubudu Dassanayake the door a year ago after a successful stint.
But few expected him to be relegated to the sidelines for long as a number of nations showed an interest in his coaching abilities.
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U.S. lands former Team Canada cricket coach Pubudu Dassanayake Back to video
On Wednesday, USA Cricket will announce that the 55 year old has been hired to coach the best nation in this part of the world for three-and-a-half years.
The wicket-keeper/batsman represented Sri Lanka and later Canada before moving into coaching, where he earned rave reviews during his spells with the U.S., Nepal and Canada.
He also was linked with Oman, where he acted as a batting coach after he was let go by Canada following the World Twenty20 Cup in 2024.
“I am thrilled and excited to be coaching the United States,” he told Postmedia in an exclusive interview. “The U.S. has a strong team and my aim will be to qualify the team for the World Cup in 2027.
“Several of the players I coached previously are still members of the team and it has been strengthened by new players in the last couple of years,” he added.
Under his guidance, Canada qualified for the finals of the Twenty20 global tournament for the first time in 2024 and simultaneously nailed a spot in the 2027 World Cup (50 overs). At the T20 tournament, the underdog Canada shocked Test nation Ireland before gallant efforts against eventual champion India, Pakistan and co-host the United States.
But instead of returning home to a hero’s welcome, he was greeted with a pink slip — and he wasn’t surprised.
Dassanayake achieved the near impossible in the tournament as he had his “hands tied by the newly elected Cricket Canada board. They interfered with team selection and essentially made life very hard for me,” he told Postmedia in an exclusive interview on his return.
“I honestly believe that our team was capable of reaching the second round of the competition, but with five players brought in without my knowledge made it difficult,” he added.
His contract with Canada Cricket stated his pact would be extended to 2027 if the team qualified for the World Cup. But CC reneged on this agreement.
Since then, Cricket Canada actively has been pursuing Sri Lankan-born Australian Test star Dav Whatmore to be the new coach, said CC president Amjad Bajwa.
“We are interested in him and have been talks for some time. We are looking forward to having him on board as soon as possible,” Bajwa said.
Whatmore confirmed he is in talks with Canada.
“I am not sure it would be correct for me to talk to you right now as I am technically still in negotiations,’’ he told me in a phone call from Colombo.
Whatmore played seven Tests for Australia and was a brilliant batsman and an exceptional skip fielder. He retired in 1989 to pursue a coaching career where he made his mark by leading Sri Lanka to the World Cup in 1996 and later helped Sri Lanka share the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with India. He then went on to coach Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
One of the sticking points of him coaching Canada was the salary he was offered. Whatmore would not want to touch on this subject while Bajwa said “it is false” that the figure Whatmore wanted $200,000 US per season.
CC has been battling strong headwinds in recent months including the hiring of CEO Salman Khan who has been charged for fraud and theft by Calgary Police.
KOHLI BIDS FAREWELL
One of the world’s greatest cricketers, Virat Kohli, is bowing out of the Test scene after 14 years.
The superstar’s decision came as a mighty shock and comes a week after teammate and India skipper Rohit Sharma also decided to hang up his cleats. There must have been a huge sigh of relief around England as India is the headline visitor to that country this summer. India likely will be led by 25-year-old Shubman Gill, an up-and-coming batsman.
It’s an end of an era for both Kohli and Sharma, who entertained crowds around the world with their bats.
The 36-year-old Kohli amassed 9,230 runs from 123 Tests that put him in fourth place on India’s all-time list behind Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid. The right-hander had 30 centuries and 31 half centuries and his highest score was 254 versus visiting South Africa in 2019. It was one of seven double centuries he amassed.
“His departure leaves not only a statistical void but a seismic shift in energy – for there has never been another quite like him,” former Australian ace Greg Chappell said.
IPL BACK ON TRACK
The Indian Premier League that had been suspended following the recent cross-border confrontation between India and Pakistan will resume on Saturday and the final has now been moved to June 3. The final originally wasscheduled to take place on May 25. It is not yet certain how many of the overseas international players will return for the remainder of the season.
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