T20 World Cup 2026: How Ex-India Coaches R Sridhar And Vikram Rathour Helped Sri Lanka Beat Australia | Image Source - AFP
Sri Lanka’s head coach, Sanath Jayasuriya, has hailed two Indian ex-coaches in his staff after their stunning 8-wicket victory over the mighty Australians in the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. This win over Australia helped the Sri Lankan side to qualify for the Super 8s of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka’s empathetic win over Australia came riding on a powerful batting display from Pathum Nissanka, who looked in breathtaking form on Monday, February 16th.
Besides scoring the first century of the tournament, Pathum Nissanka also took an amazing catch that many fans and experts are calling the best catch of the tournament so far. Fielding at point, he dived to his left to stop a switch hit from Glenn Maxwell and caught the ball behind his body.
Speaking after the game, Sri Lanka head coach and legend Jayasuriya hailed R Sridhar and Vikram Rathour for Sri Lanka’s outstanding performance in the ongoing tournament.
Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Match Centre Live’, Sanath Jayasuriya credited the Indians in his staff and shared how both the ex-coaches planned Australia’s downfall in the ongoing tournament. He revealed, “R Sridhar, our fielding coach from India, and Vikram Rathour, our batting coach, are outstanding additions. They deliver exactly what we need in practice. Sridhar excels with fielding, and Vikram, with his IPL experience, works brilliantly with the batters. They gel well with the group and instilled real confidence in our players. Even when we coaches sometimes get desperate, we’ve backed the batting unit, and their contributions have been excellent.”
Further, Jayasuriya also praised the strong bowling effort from the team. Even after giving away 100 runs in the first eight overs, the Sri Lankan bowlers fought back, and the spinners managed to slow down the Australian batter. Although their main man, Matheesha Pathirana, was ruled out with a hamstring injury, Sri Lanka kept putting pressure on the Australian batters. Eventually, the Sri Lankan bowlers restricted the Australians to 181 runs in 20 overs.
Jayasuriya also opened up about the dressing room environment. He revealed the team’s strategy. Regarding Sri Lanka’s strategy, he said, “We targeted Zampa as the key threat. If he bowls well, we shut him down early, then attack the others. With dew making the pitch better, we backed our batters. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka batted superbly; Pathum never let up after that, sealing it with a big hundred. Pavan Rathnayake is another bright future star for Sri Lanka. He’s playing brilliant cricket despite limited T20 experience.”
The mighty Australians failed badly and were bowled out for 181 runs, even though the boundaries were short. Sri Lanka chased down the target easily, finishing the spell at 184/2. After Sri Lanka lost an early wicket, Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka added 97 runs together. Mendis scored 51 runs before getting out in the 13th over.
Pathum Nissanka stayed till the end with Chamika Rathnayake, who scored a brilliant century, his second T20 century, smashing five sixes and ten fours. Chamika Rathnayake stayed unbeaten on 28.
Earlier, Australia started on a worse possible note. Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head joined hands and put on 104 runs for the first wicket. Travis Head made 56 off 29 balls before he was caught out at long-off.
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