Courtesy: X
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has terminated Chandika Hathurusinghe as the head coach of their men’s national team with immediate effect after suspending him a couple of days ago for allegedly assaulting a cricketer from the country and taking more leaves than initially contracted for. According to the official statement from the BCB, the sacking of Chandika Hathurusinghe is due to misconduct and dereliction of duty after an emergency board meeting about the matter on Thursday, October 17.
Just a couple of days ago, BCB President Faruque Ahmed spoke about the alleged assault and more leaves taken than mentioned in the contract signed by Chandika Hathurusinghe as the head coach of the national team. It led to Sri Lankan’s suspension from the prestigious post, apart from a show-cause notice being served to him, which seeked explanation on both counts of misconduct, to which he responded a day later as per the report from ESPNcricinfo.
Chandika Hathurusinghe's termination comes into immediate effect: Bangladesh Cricket Board
Following the BCB emergency meeting earlier today, the excerpts of the official statement announcing the termination of Chandika Hathurusinghe as the head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team read, “After considering all factors, the board deemed Hathurusinghe's explanation unsatisfactory and unacceptable and found his action consistent with misconduct and dereliction of duty. His termination comes into immediate effect.”
During his second stint as the Bangladesh head coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe was part of the first-ever Test series win for the country in Pakistan recently. Although his team’s performances in limited overs cricket were far from satisfactory as Bangladesh bowed out of the ODI World Cup 2023 and the T20 World Cup 2024 from the group stage.
In place of Chandika Hathurusinghe, the Bangladesh Cricket Board appointed Phil Simmons from West Indies as the new head coach of the men’s team till the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which will end on March 9 next year.
