BCB sacks Hathurasingha, appoints Simmons as Tigers head coach

Hathurasingha’s second tenure in the post is also ending before his term is complete

Chandika Hathurasingha’s second tenure as the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team is ending ahead of time, as did his first.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to sack the former Sri Lankan cricketer from the post only five days before the Tigers start their series against South Africa.

BCB President Faruque Ahmed made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that Hathurasingha had been dismissed after a show cause notice was issued on certain matters.

The BCB chief announced that Phil Simmons will now take up the post. The former West Indian cricketer has a contract with the team until the next Champions Trophy.

During his first tenure, Hathurasingha stood down from the role of head coach himself. This time, the 56-year-old coach lost the job with five months remaining on his two-year contract.

There were regular questions about Hathurasingha’s future after Faruque – a staunch and regular critic of the coach - took over as BCB president in August. He has expressed that idea many times. A few days before taking charge, he said in an interview on the 'Not Out Noman' YouTube channel that he did not see any reason to keep Hathrusingha as the coach.

Since assuming the role, Faruque has faced repeated questions about the decision over the past two months. It has now been made.

Hathurusingha was first appointed the coach of the Bangladesh team in June 2014. His two-year tenure was later extended until the 2019 ODI World Cup. Under his coaching, Bangladesh achieved incredible success in ODIs, including the quarter-final game of the 2015 ODI World Cup, and some memorable victories in Tests as well.

But Hathurasingha was no stranger to controversy during his first term. There were various complaints against him, especially regarding strained relations with cricketers and a deteriorating atmosphere in the dressing room. Later, in October 2017, he resigned in the middle of a tour of South Africa.

The former all-rounder then took charge of the Sri Lankan national team. But there too, amid various tensions and controversies, he was dismissed in the middle of a three-year contract. He went on to coach domestic cricket in Australia.

On Jan 31 last year, the BCB said that Hathurusingha was returning as the head coach and began working on a two-year contract from February last year. He is not seeing out this contract either.

Bangladesh has played 10 Tests, 35 ODIs and 35 T20Is during his second tenure as head coach. In Tests the team's record shows five wins and five losses. Along with the expected wins against Ireland and Afghanistan, Bangladesh pulled off a grand victory against New Zealand in Sylhet and a historic series win in Pakistan. On the other hand, they also suffered a bad loss to Sri Lanka and an embarrassing defeat to India only a few days ago.

In ODIs, the team’s record saw 13 wins, 19 losses, and three abandoned matches. Bangladesh went into the last ODI World Cup back with high hopes only to stumble in disappointing fashion. The T20I record included 19 wins and 15 losses, with one match abandoned. The team also disappointed in this format in the previous World Cup.