Vaas takes on SL coaching role

Sri Lanka have employed the services of legendary paceman Chaminda Vaas as bowling coach for their upcoming Test series against India, beginning next Wednesday in Galle.

Vaas replaces Champaka Ramanayake, who resigned after the Zimbabwe series, and brings with him 111 Tests and 355 wickets' worth of experience.

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The former left-armer had previously been at the helm of the national program, working with feeder squads to the top team, and comes on as a specialist fast-bowling coach.

Vaas previously held the position between 2013 and 2015, before brief coaching stints with Ireland and New Zealand, and comes back on board for the three-Test, five ODI and one T20I series against Virat Kohli's India.

The staff change is the latest in a period of upheaval for the Sri Lankans, after new captain Dinesh Chandimal – who replaced regular skipper Angelo Mathews in the role for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe – being hospitalised with pneumonia.

Veteran spinner Rangana Herath will take over the leadership of the team.

Herath took 11 wickets in a nail-biting win over a spirited Zimbabwe and needs 16 more to become just the 14th player to 400 Test wickets – a goal he set himself at the start of the year.

India broke a 22-year Test drought in Sri Lanka the last time they toured there, in 2015, coming from a match down to take the series 2-1.

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Kohli yesterday said it marked the beginning of the team's transformation, coming as it did following a 2-0 series defeat in Australia, where the talismanic batsman was appointed captain following the surprise retirement of MS Dhoni.

"Within I think 12 or 15 months from Australia, we were the No. 1 side in the world," he said.

"We'd just touched it, but from then on we have solidified it.

"But I still believe, and so do everyone in the team, that (Sri Lanka) is where it started for us.

"That particular series, after losing that Test in Galle, which was quite a dent for us, the way the team came together, I think was iconic, as far as where we've come in the last two years has been concerned."