Sri Lanka has appointed former star Sanath Jayasuriya as its cricket head coach in recognition of improvements he has brought to the team’s performances as interim coach.

Jayasuriya was appointed interim coach as the Sri Lanka cricket board looked for a replacement for Chris Silverwood who resigned last June after the team’s dismal performance in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Since then Sri Lanka’s performances have improved winning a bilateral one-day international series against India in 27 years, winning a test match in England after 10 years and prevailing 2-0 in a home test series against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement Monday that Jayasuriya’s appointment will be effective for 18 months starting Oct. 1.

This is Jayasuriya’s first assignment as an international coach after an illustrious playing career in which he scored more than 21,000 international runs and took 440 wickets across all three formats of the game.

Press Release, Source: AP News