“Don’t have time” – Kumar Sangakkara distances himself from Team India’s coaching role

Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has distanced himself from Team India’s coaching role. India’s head coach seat will be vacant after Rahul Dravid’s contract comes to an end after the upcoming T20 World Cup. Dravid has confirmed he won’t be reapplying for the role.

Sangakkara has been coaching Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in the last few years and he has done a good job for the franchise. The inaugural champions made it to the playoffs in IPL 2024 but lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier on Friday. 

Coaches like Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming, Gautam Gambhir, and Justin Langer have been linked with India’s head coach role. The deadline for the applications is on May 27.

Sangakkara said in the post-match press conference after RR’s loss against SRH, “I have not been approached and I don’t have time to commit full-time to an India coaching job. Happy with my stint with Royals and let’s see how it goes.”

On the other hand, the RR head coach showered praise on Sandeep Sharma. The swing master returned with impressive figures of 2-25 and got the big wickets of Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen.

Sangakkara added, “I think it’s just a case of changing his role. We always knew that a lot of sides used him upfront but with his pace and skill, we identified that he will be very, very effective for us in the middle and at the back end.”

“We didn’t have the services of Prasidh Krishna again. Navdeep Saini was injured, and he was coming back from a big shoulder injury and came [in] halfway through the season. For two seasons now, Sandeep has been absolutely outstanding for us.”

Meanwhile, RR were at their best in the first phase of the tournament but drifted away in the second phase. They suffered a 36-run loss against SRH as they were restricted to 139-7 while chasing 176.