Chandika Hathurusingha could return as coach of Bangladesh, says BCB president

Bangladesh put in a strong performance at the recently-concluded ICC World Cup 2019 but suffered heartbreak as they had to exit the competition in the group stage itself. Shakib Al Hasan was the undisputed star for the Bangla Tigers in England as Mustafizur Rahman ended up as one of the best pacers in the tournament. However, the Asians parted ways with Rhodes after the culmination of the quadrennial showpiece.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan said that former coach Chandika Hathurusingha could return as coach after the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh ODI series. Meanwhile, he added that Khaled Mahmud will be the coach of the team in an interim capacity.

"We have started the process to find a head coach, a fast-bowling coach and a physios. Since the ODI series is about to begin, we are not allowed to talk to Hathurusingha. He will become a candidate when there's a break after this series, if he expresses his wish to come. We want a coach as soon as possible. We are in talks but some of the coaches are still involved in their present jobs.

"My first preference is that the coach must have national team coaching experience. We are also looking for someone who has previous experience with subcontinent teams. We are looking for coaches outside those who applied [for the coaching position] too. Top coaches have to be contacted through agents, so we are pretty much using all our avenues," 

The former Sri Lanka cricketer still has a total of 16 months left on his current contract. Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva added that any deal between both the boards will have to comply with the laws of Sri Lankan cricket constitution. 

"We have to abide by the sports law, and when the sports minister gives a directive we're compelled to abide by those directives. So this is something we're looking at, we've had discussions about it internally, and our executive committee will need to have a discussion with the minister about how to proceed and take it forward from there.

"We know there will be a lot of speculation until then, but since it's a very sensitive area we don't want to make a statement until a final decision has been made. We don't know if Hathurusingha is okay with resigning, we'll only know after we speak to him. He's aware of the current situation, but we haven't had a discussion with him as yet, so we just have to wait and see," de Silva added.