After many rumors and speculation, Chandika Hathurusingha has ONCE AGAIN been appointed as the Head Coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team. Prior to his abrupt leave for the Sri Lanka role, the now 54-year-old Sri Lankan had spent three years, from 2014 to 2017, making the new two-year deal his second stint in the same position. And according to BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papon, this time Hathurusingha has returned as the Tigers’ all-format coach, ruling out S Sriram as the T20I coach.
According to one source, BCB had apparently been waiting to onboard Hathurusingha for a long time, even after he resigned from the post in 2017. Weeks after Russell Domingo resigned following suggestions from the board that they were looking for a new coach, BCB made the official announcement of Hathurusingha’s embarking for the second chapter.
The news came along in spite of Steve Rhodes (2018-19) and Domingo (2019-22) having a much better percentage win compared to Hathurusingha. While Rhodes had a win percentage of 51.11 in 45 matches, Domingo had a 42.34 win percentage in all formats. In contrast to Hathurusingha, both Rhodes and Domingo had superior records in ODIs and T20Is. However, Hathurusingha had a better Test record, winning 06 out of the 21 matches played during his time.
The curious return has drawn diverse reactions from the country’s cricket fraternity, with many feeling that BCB was hasty in disposing of Rhodes post 2019 World Cup, while Domingo resigned after being criticized for his style of coaching. During one of his encounters with the media, Former captain Mashrafe Mortaza had said that the way Hathurusingha abandoned the Bangladesh job in 2017 left a bad taste in the mouth. For the veteran pacer, a huge question mark remains on how the current Tiger dressing room will welcome their new boss.
According to Jalal Yunus, the BCB Cricket Operations Committee Chairman, the board is happy to welcome Hathurusingha, and believes that it won’t take him long to adjust here because of his previous experience with Bangladesh’s team culture and players. Jalal Yunus also emphasized on the fact that Hathurusingha has always shown interest in Bangladesh cricket, and iterated the board’s confidence in him to stay dedicated and maintain the contractual commitment for the coming couple of years.
It is speculated that Chandika Hathurusingha shall arrive in Dhaka between February 18 and 20, a week before Bangladesh plays England in a three-match ODI series from March 1. Needless to say, the Tigers’ encounter with the English in home-grounds will have all the critics on the edges of their seats. Now it is up to the former Sri Lankan allrounder to prove whether his magic works on the almost entirely new roster of Tigers, or BCB finds itself compelled to look for another resort – yet again! To get all types of sport related latest updates and analysis follow parimatchnews.com.
