The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has suspended head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on disciplinary grounds. The suspension lasts 48 hours, after which the board will terminate his contract. The BCB has also issued Hathurusinghe a show-cause notice. Phil Simmons will take over as interim head coach until the 2025 Champions Trophy.
BCB president Faruque Ahmed cited two reasons for the disciplinary action against Hathurusinghe. “The first is an assault on a player, and the second is that he took more leaves than allowed in his contract,” Ahmed explained.
Hathurusinghe had returned for his second stint as Bangladesh’s head coach in February last year. However, under his leadership, the team’s performances have been inconsistent, with disappointing results in both last year’s ODI World Cup and this year’s T20 World Cup. Despite these setbacks, he did guide Bangladesh to a historic 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan, marking their first-ever victory in Pakistan and their first overseas Test series triumph in 15 years.
Following that success, Bangladesh’s form dipped, notably during their tour of India, where they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the Tests and a 3-0 whitewash in the T20Is, which included a record-breaking loss in the third match. Ahmed, who became BCB president in August this year, had hinted shortly after his appointment that Hathurusinghe’s position as head coach was under review.
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