Hathurusingha axed over misconduct

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to cut ties with the national men's team's head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, citing several disciplinary grounds, which mainly included his "assault" on a national cricketer during last year's ODI World Cup.

During yesterday's press briefing held on short notice in Mirpur, BCB president Faruque Ahmed informed media that they have already issued a show-cause suspension notice to the 58-year-old Sri Lankan -- giving him a 48-hour timeframe "because he is an international figure."

The BCB boss later confirmed the appointment of former West Indies allrounder Phil Simmons as their new head coach until the Champions Trophy 2025. Simmons, who previously coached West Indies and Afghanistan, is set to arrive in Dhaka today ahead of the Tigers' two-match Test series against South Africa, beginning on October 21.

Although none of the allegations against Hathurusingha are neither based on recent incident and nor directly linked to the Tigers' on-field performance, Faruque claimed that their stern decision was based on re-assessing the reports given by a three-member special committee -- formed on November 29 last year -- tasked with scrutinising the underperformance of the Tigers in the mega event held in India.

It was learnt that the incident of Hathurusingha slapping left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed during the New Zealand match in Chennai was mentioned in the report. Moreover, Hathurusingha's excessive leave "taken without the board's permission" in his second tenure with Bangladesh, which started on January 31 last year and was supposed to run until the Champions Trophy in 2025, also went against the former Sri Lanka batter.

"Even for unpaid leave, one must take the employer's permission," said Faruque.

"I really felt bad from the moment I learned about the [Nasum] assault incident from the newspapers. I felt something should be done about it. The ICC strongly handles racism and abuse… This is the right punishment. It should have happened some time ago.

"The media wrote strongly about why the [ODI World Cup 2023] report never came out… We had a few things happening, so it took time for us to get to the bottom of it," he explained.

Since Faruque took charge of BCB, it seemed just a matter of time for Hathurusingha -- who previously served as Bangladesh head coach between 2014 and 2017 -- to either face termination or quit his role, as both had some major disagreements at that time, which led to the then selector Faruque stepping down from his position in 2016.

"I spoke at the time as a former player who was assessing a coach. I said at the time that Hathurusingha doesn't have much more to give to Bangladesh.

"I am happy, as a former player, captain, and now as a board president, that we were able to do it."

Faruque reiterated the "decision today wasn't influenced by personal reasons"; rather, it was due to a "combination" of team performance and misconduct. Under his watch since late August, the national team had a mixed outing of late, winning a Test series in Pakistan before suffering massive defeats in both the Test and T20I series in India.

Hathurusingha, who has arguably been the most successful coach for the Tigers according to performance and results in both his tenures, had conducted the Test squad's training at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium earlier in the day.

For Hathurusingha, however, it wasn't the first time he faced such consequences. His contract was prematurely terminated by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2019, having failed to adequately prepare the Sri Lankan side for various assignments and being unable to maintain good relationships with players.

Hathurusingha later challenged his sacking in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, and demanded USD five million for loss of income and damages to his reputation, among other claims, but withdrew it a few months later -- after his desired addition of parties in the legal proceedings was rejected.

Meanwhile, when contacted by The Daily Star yesterday, Hathurusingha dismissed the reasons behind his suspension, stating those are "mere allegations."

"I'll answer them at the right time," he warned.