Cricket Canada confirmed that head coach Pubudu Dassanayake will stay on as head coach for the duration of the T20 World Cup following a meeting of the Canadian board which declined to ratify the former Sri Lanka international’s informal dismissal.
Dassayanake was told on Wednesday morning by assistant manager and Cricket Canada vice president Gurdeep Klair to expect to be be relieved of his duties as head coach at the conclusion of a warm-up tour to St Kitts, but a board meeting the same evening did not ratify the decision. “Hopefully we can put this all behind us, we’ll be focussing on the cricket, the team has worked very hard to get here and we’re looking forward to our first match.” Dassanayake told Cricbuzz.
In addition to the retention of Dassanayake, the final squad confirmed by Cricket Canada today featured a number of notable changes. Spinner Nikhil Dutta, who had been omitted from the original squad announcement, has made the cut for the final 15, while left arm seamer Rishiv Joshi is also included in the final squad. Missing out are batter Kanwarpal Tathgur and spin all-rounder Harsh Thaker.
