Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has officially announced the appointment of Gary Kirsten as the new head coach of the men’s national team. Kirsten, who comes with a hefty coaching pedigree, will take over the reins on April 15 on a two-year contract that runs until April 14 2028.

The former South Africa batter will take over a Sri Lankan side seeking stability and a blueprint for consistency in the modern game. While outgoing head coach Sanath Jayasuriya was undoubtedly a household name, Kirsten is without question the most blockbuster appointment to the position in Sri Lanka’s history.

He famously guided India to their 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup victory. And under his tenure, South Africa reached the top of the Test rankings. Most recently, he served as a consultant for Namibia during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

As a player, Kirsten was a stalwart for South Africa, amassing over 14,000 international runs and becoming the first from his country to reach 100 Test matches.

Kirsten hopes to join a long line of non-Sri Lankan coaches who have significantly influenced the nation’s cricketing history. This tradition includes Dav Whatmore, who orchestrated the historic 1996 World Cup win; Tom Moody and Trevor Bayliss, who led the team to World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011; and Chris Silverwood, the most recent foreign head coach before Sanath Jayasuriya took over as interim and then full-time coach in late 2024.

The appointment comes at a critical juncture following the team’s limp exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup, and marks a pointed departure from the post-2024 World Cup pivot towards coaches with more local knowledge.

Jayasuriya, who officially resigned as head coach following the tournament’s conclusion, will now lead the High Performance Centre. Sri Lanka enjoyed historic home successes in 2024 under his leadership – including a first ODI series win against India in 27 years – but their recent World Cup campaign ended in the Super Eight after disappointing losses to England and New Zealand.

Sri Lanka’s campaign was marked by competing philosophies, with batters in particular seemingly lacking clarity in their roles. SLC, in a media release, stated that the “appointment of the new head coach is part of Sri Lanka Cricket’s efforts to revamp the structure of the National High Performance Center,” and Kirsten will first and foremost be tasked with establishing a clear path to success.

With the 2027 men’s ODI World Cup set to be held in his native South Africa, alongside Namibia and Zimbabwe, Kirsten’s intimate knowledge of those conditions would have also likely played a role in his hire, but SLC will be hoping that his impact will be longer lasting and help build a winning culture similar to those he helped established in India and South Africa.

[Cricinfo]

Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader, just over a week after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , in joint United States-Israeli strikes that have.plunged the entire region into a sprawling war.

The 56-year-old, who will now be charged with leading the Islamic Republic through the biggest crisis in its 47-year history, was named by clerics as his father’s successor on Sunday.

Key leaders, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the armed forces were quick to pledge their backing to the new leader.

Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who has been tasked with steering Iran’s security strategy since the US and Israel launched their all-out offensive, called for unity around the new supreme leader.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf welcomed the choice, saying that following the new supreme leader was a “religious and national duty”.

Mojtaba Khamenei has never run for office or been subjected to a public vote, but has for decades been a highly influential figure in the inner circle of the supreme leader, cultivating deep ties to the IRGC.

In recent years, Khamenei has increasingly been touted as a top potential replacement for his father. His selection could be a sign that more hardline factions in Iran’s establishment retain power, and could indicate that the government has little desire to agree to a deal or negotiations in the short term as the war enters its second week.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem described Khamenei as his “father’s gatekeeper”.

“He adopts the positions of his father with respect to the United States, with respect to Israel. So we are expecting a confrontational leader. We’re not expecting any moderation,” he said.

“However, if this war comes to an end and he is still alive, and he is able to continue running the country, there is going to be big potential… to find new routes for Iran,” Hashem said.

(Aljazeera)