Chandika Hathurusingha appointed Sri Lanka team head coach

The 49-year-old is highly regarded as one of the most innovative brains in the game and that was well in view during his tenure with Bangladesh as the Asian nation rose from a minnow to one among the equals. But before that, he rose to prominence as a coach when he guided an unfancied Moors SC to Sri Lanka's first-class title as a player cum coach in 2003. He then retired from first-class cricket and became the coach of UAE.

In 2007, he returned home to take over as Sri Lanka's 'A' team and following their second string team's highly successful tour of South Africa in 2009, then Test captain Kumar Sangakkara requested the board to release him for the senior side. Although he was expected to take over as head coach of the senior side from Trevor Bayliss after the 2011 World Cup, he was sacked after differences with then SLC President DS de Silva.

Sri Lanka have been looking for a permanent head coach since the departure of Graham Ford in June and Hathurusingha is expected to coach Sri Lanka to the 2019 World Cup in England.