The tenure of Chandika Hathurusingha as the coach of Bangladesh has come to an end. On Tuesday (15 October), the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Faruk Ahmed officially announced in a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, that the board has decided not to retain Hathurusingha.
In an official media briefing, Faruk Ahmed disclosed that Hathurusingha has been issued a show-cause notice and suspended.
Despite several upcoming assignments for the national team, the board made the unexpected decision to part ways with the coach. Faruk explained, “Before the dismissal, we have served him a show-cause notice, adhering to proper protocol. He has been suspended for 48 hours, after which we will proceed with his termination. Phil Simmons will serve as the coach until the ICC Champions Trophy next year.”
Although Hathurusingha’s contract with the BCB was due to run until the Champions Trophy early next year, Faruk Ahmed’s administration has chosen to cut ties with the high-profile coach ahead of time. This marks the end of Hathurusingha’s second stint as Bangladesh’s coach—during his first tenure, he had resigned of his own accord, but this time the BCB has dismissed him.
For the upcoming Test series against South Africa, a new head coach from the West Indies will be taking charge. The board has signed a contract with this coach to manage the team until the Champions Trophy.
In recent times, Bangladesh’s performance in Test matches has been a mix of highs and lows. They celebrated a historic Test series win against Pakistan on Pakistani soil, but displayed dismal performances in both Test and T20 formats against India, suffering defeats.
The primary reasons cited for Hathurusingha's dismissal are less about the team's performance and more about his alleged misconduct and autocratic leadership style. It is reported that during last year’s ODI World Cup in India, Hathurusingha had a serious altercation with spinner Nasum Ahmed, leading to a formal investigation by the BCB. Allegedly, Hathurusingha physically shoved Nasum by the neck and behaved inappropriately with him.
Although his contract was initially set to run until the Champions Trophy, the BCB has opted to release Hathurusingha earlier than planned.
Under Hathurusingha’s second tenure, Bangladesh played 10 Tests, 35 ODIs, and 35 T20 matches. In Tests, the team secured 5 wins and 5 losses. In ODIs, they won 13 out of 35 matches, lost 19, and 3 matches ended without a result. In T20s, Bangladesh won 19 of the 35 matches, lost 15, and 1 ended without a result.
