The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has officially ended the contract of their national team’s head coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe, due to misconduct and violations of employment terms. Hathurusinghe, who resumed his role in January 2023, had five months left on his contract.
On Tuesday, October 15, the BCB issued a notice to him requesting an explanation. After receiving his response on Wednesday, October 16, the Board held an emergency meeting on Thursday to assess the situation following which the decision to terminate Hathurusinghe’s contract was taken.
“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,” a BCB release said.
In Hathurusinghe’s place, the BCB appointed former West Indies cricketer Phil Simmons as the new Head Coach of the men’s team. Simmons will be in charge of the Tigers in the bilateral Test series against South Africa at home, the away ODI series against Afghanistan, the Test, ODI and T20I series against the West Indies and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, scheduled for February-March 2025.
Earlier, BCB chief Faruque Ahmed slammed Hathurusinghe for “assault on a player” and breaching other terms of his contract.
“Hathurusinghe has two counts of misconduct. First is about an assault on a player. Secondly, he took too many leaves, more than what was in his contract,” Ahmed was quoted as saying in a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday.
“There was a misconduct with a player, and misconduct as an employee. He also spent more than three months [on leave], that is also a large part of his misconduct. He informed us in a scattered way, in one or two emails, that he has to go home. It can’t be for more than three months. Even as a board president, I cannot do what I want. I am guided by some rules. It is the norm. So there was a serious breach in that regard.”
