Chandika Hathurusingha extends Bangladesh contract until 2019
Bangladesh head coach, Chandika Hathurusingha has extended his contract as the head coach of the national cricket team until 2019. The decision was made at a meeting of the board members of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday.
Hathurusingha has been the head coach of The Tigers since July 2014 and has been instrumental in the rise of the national team's recent performances, especially in limited-overs cricket. During the meeting, it was also decided that the former Sri Lankan player will also be a part of the six-man selection committee.
The six-man committee includes the likes of former Bangladesh player and current Bangladesh team manager, Khaled Mahmud and BCB's cricket operations committee chairman, Akram Khan. Ruwan Kalpage, Richard Halsall and Mario Villavarayan have also been retained as the assistant coach, fielding coach and fitness and conditioning coach respectively.
BCB had appointed Simon Helmot as the High-Performance Coach a week ago and the Australian has also received a contract until 2019.
Also Read: Shaminda Eranga suspended from bowling after ICC finds his action illegal
The BCB has restructured their selection process for the national team. First, the national squad will be picked by a three-man team headed by Faruque Ahmed. This will then be passed on to the aforementioned six-man selection committee before being submitted to the BCB President, Nazmul Hassan.
“We have only legalised the current process. The cricket operations committee chairman will call the meeting with the selectors, coach and manager. The coach will give his strategic input, if he has any. The manager will give his and the captain's input,” Hassan spoke about the new system.
Habibul Bashar, who was part of the three-man selection panel under Faruque, has been replaced by former batsman and junior selector, Sajjad Ahmed. Bashar has been given the responsibility of selecting the women's teams for Bangladesh. Minhajul Abedin keeps his place as the senior selector and the third member of the panel under Faruque. Former players, Hasibul Hossain and Hannan Sarkar have been named as junior selectors.
Bangladesh fast bowler, Rubel Hossain, who was removed from the National Player Contract List in February 2016, has been got his name back into the list. Rubel had been omitted due to a disciplinary breach.