Wasim Jaffer Appointed Bangladesh's Batting Consultant For Sri Lanka Tour

India’s veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer has been appointed as the batting consultant of the Bangladesh side for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Champaka Ramanayake has been appointed as the bowling consultant of the Tigers. Both of these players were part of the BCB high-performance unit. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh board is still looking for a new head coach after Steve Rhodes was sacked.

Furthermore, former South African batsman Neil McKenzie, who is the current batting consultant of the team hasn’t renewed his contract. Thus, he is not expected to be with the team for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Wasim Jaffer has huge experience under his belt.

“We have some plans regarding filling the post of our coaches and it will depend on what type of coaches we are getting,” BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan said on Monday (July 15).

Akram confirmed that Champaka Ramanayake is a good bowling coach and they will him as a backup option. Furthermore, BCB has appointed Wasim Jaffer as the batting coach. Jaffer has vast experience under his belt and he is going add value to the Bangladesh team.

Jaffer has worked with Tamim Iqbal.

“Champaka [Ramanayake] is also a very good bowling coach and we have him as our backup and now we will take him to this tour. Look, some of our coaches had requested for leave during the time of Sri Lanka tour as there was some problem regarding the tour [after the terrorist attack] and only was confirmed in the recent past. If McKenzie is unable to give us time [that is likely to be the case] then we will take Wasim Jaffer as the batting coach.

“They are not chosen as the replacement of McKenzie or Courtney Walsh. As per the contract with them, they are bound to take additional responsibilities.”

Shakib Al Hasan has been granted leave by BCB for Hajj.

On the other hand, Bangladesh can also take the services of Khaled Mahmud as the head coach. Meanwhile, Mario will check the fitness of Bangladesh players on July 18.

 “You all know there is a crisis about the head coach but we are trying to get one. We will take the service of Khaled Mahmud as our main coach but we are trying to get someone,” Akram revealed. “Mario will check the fitness of the players on July 18 when the camp for the series will start. Ryan Cook will also join before the series.”

Meanwhile, Wasim Jaffer was also working with Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Mithun after Bangladesh World Cup exit. In fact, Jaffer had also worked with Soumya Sarkar during the Dhaka Premier League to help the southpaw regain his form.

“I think Jaffer just wanted to see how Tamim is going after a particular type of bowling. It is up to him whether he will take his advice or not because after playing international cricket for so long there is hardly anything new to add apart from just doing some fine tuning,” Mahmud told Cricbuzz.

Bangladesh will play three One Day Internationals against Sri Lanka with the first One-Dayer set to be played on 26th July at Colombo.