Former Sri Lanka batsman Hashan Tillakaratne appointed women's team coach
Hashan Tillakaratne, the dogged left-handed middle-order batsman of yesteryear, has been appointed head coach of the Sri Lanka women's cricket team for a period of six months.
A member of the 1996 World Cup-winning team, Tillakaratne has held several coaching positions before his latest elevation.
"The Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Mr. Hashan Tillakaratne as the Head Coach of the National Women's Team. The appointment came into effect from 1st June 2021," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) posted on its website.
While his contract expires on December 31, it is expected that he will get a fresh deal from the SLC, with the ICC women's World Cup in New Zealand scheduled in February-March, next year.
It also stated that Tillakaratne's latest assignment comes as part of the "ongoing coach restructuring program at the High Performance Centre of the SLC."
Among his previous roles are working as the head coach of the Sri Lanka U-19 side and the batting coach of the Sri Lanka emerging team.
He was also the head coach of Kandy Tuskers, a franchise of the Lanka Premier League, during its inaugural edition.
In a career spanning over 15 years, the 53-year-old played 83 Tests in which he scored 4545 runs with 11 hundreds and a 40-plus average. He also played 200 ODIs in which he scored 3789 runs. Occasionally, he also kept wickets.
