Russell Domingo’s resignation as Bangladesh’s head coach, which came to an end all rumors, came before the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
“He( Domingo) sent his resignation letter yesterday (Tuesday) and that is with immediate effect,” The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Younus told the BSS while confirming the news.
Two days have passed since Bangladesh’s home series against India when he announced his resignation. Despite winning the three-match ODI series by a score of 2-1, Bangladesh was completely swamped in the two-match Test series.
Since the 2021 T20 World Cup, when the Bangladeshi national team’s performance in the shortest format of cricket reached a new low by losing all of the games, including a loss to Scotland, Domingo’s relationship with BCB has been rocky. The BCB, however, was unable to discontinue its relationship with him for a number of reasons.
A major step to remove him from the post was taken when Sridharan Sriram was appointed as head coach of the T20 team, in the guise of technical advisor. Domingo at various times made it clear he was not satisfied the way he was removed from the T20 setup. During Bangladesh’s 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Domingo was in South Africa and it was believed he may not come back to Bangladesh and would send his resignation letter.
However, in contrary to this belief he returned to the country and supervised the team in the home series against India. But things looked gloomy for him once again when BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon and cricket operations chairman Jalal Yonus hinted at overhauling Bangladesh’s coaching setup.
“We need a coach who has an impact and influence on the team,” Yunus told reporters shortly after the Dhaka Test. “You will soon see some changes. We are trying. We want a very strong team that can play quality and is a highly competitive team. We went close to beating India but it is tough to beat this team. We beat England and Australia on this ground, but India is a tougher side in these conditions.
Just 24 hours after that BCB boss Papon hinted that though they are happy with Domingo’s performance he might be axed.
“We are moving with a long-term plan and that is not short-term. It is a three to four years plan and if changes are required (to implement those plans) that there will be changes,” Papon told reporters.
In September 2019, a few months after the BCB fired Steve Rhodes following the World Cup that year, Domingo took over as head coach. Under his leadership, Bangladesh won the ODI series in South Africa, the home T20I series against India and Australia, a Test in New Zealand (for the first time), and a Test against Australia.
In the meantime, Mike Hussey of Australia and former head coach Chandika Hathurusingha are the front-runners to succeed Domingo as Bangladesh’s coach. If the hiring process takes a while, Sridharan Sriram might take over as head coach for the team’s home white ball series against England in March.
