‘Not waiting for Chandika anymore’

After more than a week of speculation regarding the reasons for head coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s resignation and whether he will reconsider his decision, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said on Monday that the board is no longer waiting for the Sri Lankan’s return.

Hassan also said that there is a strong possibility that former Bangladesh captain-turned-BCB director and current Dhaka Dynamites coach Khaled Mahmud will step into the breach at least for the Sri Lanka series at the turn of the year.

Hassan had said on November 9, when news broke of Hathurusingha sending a resignation letter midway through the South Africa tour the previous month, that they will wait for Hathurusingha to return to Bangladesh and try to talk him into reconsidering his decision. Hathurusingha was contracted to coach the team till the 2019 World Cup in England.

As news of Hathurusingha’s imminent deal to coach Sri Lanka has started to trickle through, however, the BCB boss ruled out a return.

“We are not waiting for Hathurusingha; we are waiting for his report,” said Hassan during the day’s BPL matches at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. “He said he will submit it within two or three weeks. We have to know whether he is leaving because of personal reasons or whether it is because of us. If it is personal, then there is no problem. There is no problem even if it is something to do with us, but we should know about it."

With names of a number of international coaches doing the rounds recently, Hassan admitted that the BCB have started shopping for international coaches but said that they may be looking locally for the immediate future.

"If we don't get a foreign coach before the Sri Lanka series, then we will look at a local coach," Hassan said when asked about the Sri Lanka series. "We have Khaled Mahmud Shujon; the possibilities of him taking over are highest."