The BCB fired Bangladesh’s head coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, for allegedly assaulting a player during the 2023 ODI World Cup. The 56-year-old Hathurusingha’s contract was supposed to expire after the awarding of the Champions Trophy in 2025. He was suspended for 48 hours rather than a notice period and will be terminated shortly after that. Bangladesh Cricket Board also issued him a show-cause notice.
The incident that led to Hathurusingha’s termination happened in Chennai during a match against New Zealand. He was reported to ‘slap’ a player during a drink break. The player’s reaction to the drinks break was somewhat delayed since he was charged with supplying items to his batters in the middle, which triggered Hathurusingha’s action. Two weeks later, eyewitnesses reported the incident to the BCB’s upper management in Kolkata, but it was not handled at that time.
Hathurusingha Has Committed Two Offenses
Bangladesh Cricket Board head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has been fired on disciplinary grounds. This follows a BCB inquiry when Nasum Ahmed accused Hathurusingha of inappropriate behavior during the 2023 World Cup. “Hathurusinghe has two counts of misconduct,” BCB president Faruque Ahmed confirmed. “The first is about an assault on a player. The second is that he took too many leaves, more than what was in his contract.”
Hathurusingha formerly coached Bangladesh from 2014 until 2017. The renowned Sri Lankan cricketer came to Bangladesh as head coach for the second time in February 2023. Under his leadership, the Asian side did poorly in India’s World Cup in October 2023, followed by a disastrous 2024 T20 World Cup. Bangladesh’s only excellent performance during his tenure came on a visit to Pakistan, where the Najmul Shanton-led team won a record 2-0 Test series.
Bangladesh won the format for the first time in Pakistan and their first international Test series victory in 15 years. After that win, Bangladesh failed to seize the momentum. They suffered an ugly 0-2 defeat in the two-Test series against India and a heavy 0-3 loss in the T20I series against the Rohit Sharma-led team in September 2024.
BCB Names New Head Coach
After Hathurusingha’s suspension, Bangladesh selected former West Indies hitter Phil Simmons as coach of their men’s national team on October 15. Simmons was hired as a coach with a successful track record who has worked in several nations and franchises. In 2004, Simmons started his international coaching career with Zimbabwe. Since then, he has coached many other nations, such as Afghanistan and Ireland.
Final Thoughts
In 2016, Simmons also guided the West Indies to the global T20 title. He will now lead Bangladesh in a two Test series against South Africa at home beginning on October 21. This event will begin next week and run until the Champions Trophy in February 2025. During this time, Bangladesh will also play an ODI series against Afghanistan and a visit to the West Indies in all formats.
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