In March 2013, he announced his retirement from international cricket after being overlooked for a home Test series against Bangladesh. Lahore attack Samaraweera, along with five teammates, was injured in the 3 March 2009 attack on the bus that carried the Sri Lankan team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. He was hospitalised with a thigh injury. Samaraweera was the most seriously injured player amongst them. Thilan suffered a major injury on his left thigh as a bullet fired by a terrorist pierced through his knee well inside his body by 12 inches. Six policemen that guarded the bus and two civilians were killed in the attack. He then underwent surgery, remained at hospital for two weeks and took brief break from cricket for roughly 4 months. The doctors advised him that he may not ever play cricket again but he soon overcame the obstacles and mental trauma following the attack. He also revealed that he was still haunted by the 2009 Lahore terrorist attack. He returned to cricket in June 2009 following his surgery. He was believed to have undergone 2 and half hours operation at the Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo and fears were also raised that he could be forced to retire from international cricket. Coaching career He became the batting consultant for Bangladesh in September 2016 ahead of the Bangladesh's home Test series against England. He was employed by Cricket Australia as a consultant coach for Australian team for the test tour of Sri Lanka. He served as batting consultant for Bangladesh until the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and BCB did not extend the contract after the Champions Trophy. In November 2017, he was named as Sri Lanka's batting coach till 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. However, he stepped down from the role of Sri Lanka's batting coach in 2018 following the end of Sri Lanka's test series in New Zealand. During the New Zealand tour around 2018, he was known for serving as a personal mentor to Kusal Mendis and Thilan made sure that Kusal Mendis was not dropped for the test match at Wellington. He was appointed as the fielding coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018 for the Indian Premier League. In 2019, he was roped in by New Zealand Cricket to work with New Zealand cricket team for the test tour of Sri Lanka. In August 2021, he was included in