Atapattu resigns as Lanka coach

Colombo: Former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu on Thursday resigned from the post of head coach of the national cricket team following its recent 1-2 Test series defeat against India, the country's cricket board announced.

Atapattu's resignation comes after the island nation lost back-to-back Test series against continental neighbours Pakistan and India in the last three months. Atapattu's resignation has been accepted by Sri Lanka Cricket's interim chief Sidath Wettimuny.

“We would like to inform you of the resignation of Marvan Atapattu from the post of Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team which has been accepted by Sri Lanka Cricket,” the SLC said in a statement.

Atapattu, one of Sri Lanka's batting mainstay during his playing days, had held the position of head coach from October 2014 after Paul Farbrace took over as England's assistant coach. He had also worked as a batting coach of the team from 2011 and was also the interim head coach for some time before he was assigned full charge.

SLC thanked Attapattu for his service to the national team. According to reports, SLC is likely to approach former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusinghe for the post of chief coach as he has done remarkably well with the Bangladesh national side.

Apart from guiding them to the quarter-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Bangladesh team beat Pakistan, India and South Africa in three successive ODI series. The other name that is doing rounds is of Graham Ford.