Chandika Hathurusingha sacked as Bangladesh's head coach for assaulting a player

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has been removed from his role after an alleged incident of an assault on a team player. The incident reportedly happened during the ODI World Cup 2023 and was confirmed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed.

Hathurusingha will be replaced by Phil Simmons, who will be Bangladesh's interim head coach until the Champions Trophy next year. Simmons is an experienced head coach at the international level having served with teams like Ireland, Zimbabwe, West Indies, and Afghanistan before.

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Chandika Hathurusingha sacked as Bangladesh's head coach

Chandika Hathurusingha's sacking was somehow expected after the new BCB president took over from the previous president Nazmul Hassan.

Hassan, who was a Member of Parliament from Bangladesh's Awami League Party, had to flee the country to save his life after the Awami League government fell amidst the ongoing political situation within the country.

BCB president Faruque Ahmed stated the reasons behind Chandika Hathurusingha's suspension. He claimed that the head coach was found guilty of an alleged assault on a player and also for taking too many leaves in his tenure.

"Chandika Hathurusingha has two counts of misconduct, The First is about an assault on a player. Secondly, he took too many leaves, more than what was in his contract," Faruque Ahmed said to the reporters in the press conference.

The incident of misconduct with a player was during the ODI World Cup 2023 last year in India. During the match between New Zealand and Bangladesh in Chennai, Hathurusingha was alleged to hit a player during a drinks break.

It is believed that the player had been given the task of carrying out the drinks for the batters at the crease but he did not realize that the break had begun and caused a delay. Chandika Hathurusingha, seemingly annoyed at the player, hit him which led to all the chaos.

The eyewitnesses in the team submitted a report to the BCB's higher authorities a few days later but no action was taken on it.

Faruque Ahmed reasons Chandika Hathurusingha's suspension

Faruque Ahmed further told the reporters that Chandika Hathurusingha had breached the code of conduct of BCB because of the no. of extra leaves he had taken. According to Hathurusingha's contract, he is bound to take 45 leaves annually but he took 112 leaves in 2023 and has already taken 59 so far in 2024.

"There was misconduct with a player and misconduct as an employee. He also spent more than three months (on leave), which is also a large part of his misconduct. He informed us in a scattered way, in one or two emails, that he had to go home. It can't be for more than three months," Faruque added.

Chandika Hathurusingha has been given a notice period of 48 hours. The BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury handed over the termination letter to him at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.

One of the greatest achievements of Chandika Hathurusingha's tenure was Bangladesh's historic 2-0 series win over Pakistan in an away Test series. Following that, the team was clean-swept by India in the Test and T20I series.

Phil Simmons appointed new Bangladesh head coach

After talks with various coaches, the BCB decided to appoint Phil Simmons as Bangladesh's new head coach. Faruque Ahmed mentioned his tenure and his experience with the previous teams.

Faruque Ahmed stated that Simmons be the head coach on an interim basis till the Champions Trophy 2025 and has coaching experiences in various T20 leagues across the world.

"We have appointed Phil Simmons for the interim period. His initial contract is up to the Champions Trophy. He was head coach in different countries. He has a very good track record. He has worked with many franchises, including tournaments like the Pakistan Super League and Major League Cricket," Ahmed said.

"He has had a healthy career as a coach. We spoke to a number of coaches, and we got a really hard-working guy," he added.

Phil Simmons' tenure will begin with the Test series at home against South Africa on October 21. Between the South Africa series and the Champions Trophy, Bangladesh will play an ODI series against Afghanistan and also tour the West Indies for a multi-format series.