De Silva headed SLC's Cricket Committee, an advisory body comprising several former Test captain, but stepped down from the post in May due to differences of opinion with SLC officials.
"With the Sri Lankan team in total disarray, we need someone with Aravinda's vision to put things back on track. He will be given full control over matters pertaining to international cricket," a senior SLC official told Cricbuzz on Sunday (September 10).
Accordingly, De Silva's first target will be to interview the candidates for the role of head coach, a position that fell vacant after Graham Ford stepped down from the role in June. De Silva had a close rapport with Ford when he was heading the Cricket Committee and wasn't too happy when attempts were made to undermined Ford's role.
"He wasn't very keen when we first approached him as he is heavily involved with his business. But we have convinced him to help us out with the Sri Lankan team in dire straits," the source added.
De Silva also had a successful tenure as Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors from 2010 to 2011 and earned high praise from captain Kumar Sangakkara and coach Trevor Bayliss. Since then, he has been repeatedly offered the job, but has turned it down saying he doesn't have the time to watch matches.
Sri Lankan cricket hit new lows this year with a series of humiliating defeats. During the tour of South Africa in January, they were whitewashed 3-0 in Tests and were blanked 5-0 in ODIs. Then Bangladesh beat them in a Test match for the first time before suffering a maiden series defeat to Zimbabwe in a five match ODI series at home. Earlier this week, India completed an emphatic 9-0 victory across all three formats.
Sri Lanka also face the danger of not qualifying for the 2019 World Cup automatically. They are scheduled to travel to UAE for a bilateral series against Pakistan followed by a tour to India.
Cricbuzz
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