USA Cricket announces the end of Arunkumar Jagadeesh’s tenure as the Head Coach of the Men’s National Team following the conclusion of the tour of Namibia that rounded out the series of 36 One Day Internationals that Team USA played in the current cycle. The former first-class Ranji Trophy and IPL player and coach served as the Men’s Head Coach for a period of just over two and a half years from his appointment in early 2020.
Jagadeesh’s time as in charge of the USA Men’s National Team coincided with the busiest period of international fixtures in history for Team USA, with nearly 40 official international matches, a number of international tours and several training matches and camps over a particularly busy last 15 months.
During his tenure, USA played 13 T20 Internationals with 8 victories, 4 defeats and the tie that led to a Super Over win vs Canada in Antigua in the ICC Americas Qualifier in 2021. In One Day International cricket, USA played 25 x ODIs, mainly within ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2, with 12 victories, 11 defeats and 2 ties, since the return of international cricket, after a lengthy break due to the Covid pandemic.
The highlight of this period was the first ever victory for USA in a T20I or ODI vs a Full Member Nation of the ICC, as USA beat Ireland in the first T20 International in Florida in December 2021. There were also impressive tours of Scotland and Namibia in recent months with winning records in overseas conditions that has helped guide USA to a total of 35 points from their 36 matches in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2.
With USA now certain to be in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off in March/April 2023, that will decide the final two places for the Qualifier itself in June next year, both parties have agreed to end Arunkumar Jagadeesh’s time as Head Coach. This will allow for a new Head Coach to be appointed as soon as possible to give them time with the squad ahead of the vitally important play-off in March/April.
The Interim Chair of USA Cricket Atul Rai said, “USA Cricket would like to thank Jak for his significant contribution over the last two to three years, to the development of the Men’s National Team as the Head Coach. He has helped to bring several new and young players in to make their debuts in international cricket and left a strong base of players to help take American cricket to the next level in years to come. Jak’s time at the helm began just as the world was going through the huge difficulties of the covid pandemic and it wasn’t easy throughout the initial stages of his time in the USA. However, he always carried himself professionally and put the best interests of the team first and we would like to wish him well for the future as moves on to new coaching opportunities.
The advertisement for the new Head Coach will go out this week and allow USA Cricket to appoint a replacement well in advance of the CWC Qualifier Play-Off scheduled for late March 2023.”
The outgoing USA Men’s Head Coach, Arunkumar Jagadeesh said, “I am very thankful for my time as Head Coach of the USA Men’s National Team and will leave with plenty of fond memories from nearly three years in charge. I am pleased with the individual and collective progress of the team throughout my time but also disappointed that we couldn’t quite take our opportunities to qualify for a World Cup for the first time or perform more consistently in Cricket World Cup League 2. We had plenty of high points, particularly the historic first win over a Full Member nation as we beat Ireland in Florida and plenty of fine individual victories in One Day International cricket in different conditions around the world.
I hope that I have made an impact with the players and that I leave the team and American cricket in a good place ahead of exciting times for them. I wish everyone well for the future.”