On a day Royals decided to part ways with its captain Steve Smith as the captain and named Sanju Samson as the new skipper, team owner Manoj Badale confirmed that Sangakkara - who is the head of the MCC - will take over as the new team director.

"Sanju is at the start of his journey as a leader - and Kumar Sangakkara is joining as a director of cricket. He's understated and is a very, very strong individual. [Being a] Wicketkeeper is a great position to captain the team," Badale said.

After quitting international cricket, Sangakkara has been a mentor with quite a few franchise leagues.

(thehindu.com)