The sliding friction is less than static friction because, in sliding friction, the interlinking of the two surfaces is for very short time.
Friction mainly arises due to the interlocking of irregularities between two surfaces, as shown below in the diagram:
In smooth surfaces, there are very fewer irregularities, thus friction is very very less. But, on rough surfaces, the irregularities are very large.
In sliding friction, the time of interlocking is very less, as one object slides over another object. Whereas, in static friction, one object is moved over another object thus the irregularities time is more. Thus, the two surfaces could not properly come in contact with each other in sliding due to which the magnitude of static friction is more than sliding friction.
