Former Sri Lankan cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha has been named the head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team.
Chandika Hathurusingha Named as Bangladesh Head Coach
Earlier, Hathurusingha worked as the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team between 2014 and 2017. During his tenure, Bangladesh moved higher in Team Rankings and qualified for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and directly qualified for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup as well.
Right after Russell Domingo resigned from the role, the post of head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team remained vacant. The BCB president, Nazmul Hasan said on Monday that the new head coach will be appointed between February 18 and 20.
“The coach will come. I don’t if it is Hathuru or someone else, neither has the BCB announced it, but you will see,” Hassan said. “He will definitely be in place before the England series [starting March 1]. I won’t say who it will be. He will be here by February 18-20.”
During his first stint, Bangladesh had a 40.20 per cent success rate in 102 matches in charge. Steve Rhodes and Russell Domingo, his predecessors, had 51.11 and 42.34 per cent success rates, respectively.
BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury welcomed back the new head coach. “Chandika’s experience and knowledge of Bangladesh cricket will be an advantage for him and will benefit the players. He is a proven tactician and we have seen his impact on the national team during his first assignment.”
He has also coached the United Arab Emirates, the Sri Lanka A cricket team, New South Wales and Sydney Thunder.
On the other hand, BCB has not specified the role that Sridharan Sriram would have with the new set-up. The board’s president Nazmul Hasan noted that they have shortlisted five candidates for the assistant coach’s position, with Sriram expected to be one among them.
Chandika’s record as Bangladesh Coach
Bangladesh also notched up maiden Test wins over England, Australia and Sri Lanka before Hathurusingha resigned and took over as Sri Lanka’s head coach in 2017.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn/NR | |
| Test | 21 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| ODI | 51 | 25 | 23 | 3 |
| T20I | 29 | 10 | 19 | 2 |
