In a desperate attempt to keep head coach Chandika Hathurusingha with the team, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is reportedly set to make one last attempt to convince the Sri Lankan.
The BCB has already confirmed that Hathurusingha has tendered his resignation even before the One-Day series against South Africa in October. However, the board is not willing to part ways with the head coach for his impressive work with the Tigers.
During his tenure which lasted over three years, he guided Bangladesh to the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup and the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy in addition to ODI series wins over India, Pakistan and South Africa. In Tests, Bangladesh registered their first-ever wins against England and Australia at home, and against Sri Lanka away. The Sri Lankan, however, is now looking set to part ways with the team with reports suggesting that he is destined to become his national team’s head coach which is being currently coached by interim coach Nic Pothas since the departure of Graham Ford.
Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud, who had previously expressed his desire of becoming the head coach and is also running for the post of board director for the second successive term, made it clear that BCB will try every possible measure to keep Hathurusingha with the team.
“I am not sure when he is arriving but surely we will sit with him to know the actual reason behind this sudden resignation and try to find a solution so that he stays back,” Mahmud told Cricbuzz.
“No one can deny his success graph so we need to take our steps considering everything before making a final decision,” he said. “If he is reluctant then there is no use, but we must not shun away from making one last attempt.”
The news outlet further claimed that BCB officials are keen to have the head coach on board until 2019 World Cup, failure of which will see them proposing him to stay till the home series against Sri Lanka, scheduled next January.
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