Canada fires Head Coach Dassanayake days before T20 World Cup 2024

Canada head coach Pubudu Dassanayake has been dismissed from his role, which he held for the past two years.

Dassanayake, a former international player for both Sri Lanka and Canada, started his coaching duties for Canada in July 2022. Previously, he had coached Nepal twice and also led the United States team.

Under Dassanayake's leadership, Canada successfully navigated the Americas T20 Regional Final, securing their spot in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

According to a report by CricBuzz, there have been ongoing rumours of discontent within the Canadian team. These issues were exacerbated by some surprising selection choices made after a new three-member selection panel, excluding the head coach, was appointed last month following contentious Cricket Canada board elections. Notably, the omissions of Nikhil Dutta and Jeremy Gordon raised concerns.

On Wednesday morning, May 22, newly elected Cricket Canada vice president Gurdeep Klair verbally informed Dassanayake that his services would no longer be needed after the completion of the preparatory matches in St. Kitts, the last of which was played today.

The report further added that a letter expressing dissatisfaction with Dassanayake had circulated among the players, though many squad members did not endorse it. Nevertheless, Cricket Canada found sufficient grounds for his dismissal.

As of now, no replacement for Dassanayake has been named.

Canada's opening match of the T20 World Cup is against hosts the USA in Dallas on June 1.