The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has suspended Chandika Hathurusinghe as the head coach of the men’s national team with immediate effect. The development comes after Bangladesh’s disappointing tour of India where they were whitewashed in the Tests and T20Is by massive margins.
As his replacement, former West Indies cricketer Phil Simmons has been named as the interim coach and his contract will run until the end of 2025 Champions Trophy.
Hathurasinghe’s exit marks an underwhelming end to his brief second stint as Bangladesh coach with the major debacles being the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup. The one remarkable feat that he achieved during his time as Bangladesh coach is take the Tigers to their first-ever Test series whitewash against Pakistan in September.
Simmons’ recent stint in the coaching setup was with his own West Indies side whom he helmed from 2019 till the end of the Australian tour this year. His immediate assignment will be the two-match Test series at home against South Africa set to be played later this month.
