BCB confirms receiving head coach's resignation, may coach Sri Lanka

BCB president Nazmul Hasan confirmed head coach Chandika Hathurusingha's resignation, which he received early last month, but remained unsure about his reasons.

Hathurusingha is likely to take up the role of the head coach of Sri Lanka, Cricbuzz had earlier learnt. Hathurusingha has been in negotiations with SLC top brass since June when Graham Ford stepped down.

"He had sent me a letter in early October and I think it was even before the ODIs. It was definitely before October 15. He did not show any specific reason, so it is difficult to say before talking with him," Hasan said of the resignation.

"He mentioned that he is not interested to work. He received the offer from Sri Lanka one year ago and Sri Lanka's Honorable president also asked him to consider, he had from other places as well and he had shown me quite a few of those offers. It is difficult to say without talking with him why he wants to leave or whether it is a better offer, family issues or something else."

Hasan added that the board had tried getting in touch with him but there was no response. He also mentioned that if Hathurusingha didn't want to stay, there was little point convincing him to. "He is a professional and what happened all of a sudden that he needed to quit is something we need to find out. Earlier if there was any problem he would tell us. As there is no specific reason, it is difficult to assume.

"Earlier he submitted a similar letter where he mentioned of a better offer and we could stop him by taking steps that suit him. But this time there is no clue. He said he might come but we could catch him on the phone only once."

Bangladesh cricket has made rapid progress across the two dominant formats during Hathurusingha's time as the head coach. They reached the quarterfinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 before going a step further by making it to semifinal of the Champions Trophy in England earlier this year. In Tests, they beat both Australia and England at home, and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. They also recorded home series wins over South Africa, India and Pakistan in ODIs during this period.

(CRICBUZZ)