We Have To Give Chandika Hathurusingha Freedom, Says SLC Chief

The last time Chandika Hathurusingha was roped in by Sri Lanka Cricket, it did not end on expected terms. Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara had reportedly told SLC to relieve Hathurusingha of the ‘A’ team duties and make him the understudy for then head coach Trevor Bayliss. However, things did not pan out on the expected lines, and Hathurusingha had his contract terminated in 2010 due to disciplinary reasons.

Well, Hathurusingha is looking primed to enjoy a better spell with Sri Lanka this time around after being appointed the head coach as SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala indicated that the newly-appointed coach would be given a free hand in his quest to rebuild the team. Hathurusingha was roped in by Sri Lanka after he decided to end his successful association with Bangladesh much before the scheduled time in the aftermath of team’s disastrous performance in South Africa. Hathurusingha’s contract was set to expire after the 2019 World Cup, but the 49-year old tendered his resignation following Bangladesh’s dismal outing against the Proteas, and Sri Lanka did not waste time in cashing in on the opportunity.

“There’s no point in hiring one of the best coaches in the world and then failing to give him the freedom to do his job,” Sumathipala said on Wednesday (December 20). “I’m not a coach and no one in the board knows more about the job of a coach than Mr Hathurusingha. We have to give him freedom. But we also trust that he will do his job well and have an expectation that he will answer the questions that we have for him from time to time.”

Sumathipala’s comments will act as a much-needed assurance for the new coach given Sri Lanka’s recent tracks of sacking the head coaches. The board has axed as many as ten head coaches since 2011 with the last Graham Ford parting ways mainly because he was not happy with the interference of officials in his job.

“We support him and we will make sure that he is given the freedom of what he has to address in the national team, not only that, he will be a part and parcel of our development programme, assist our committees, our High Performance team.. We are quite clear in our mind that we have got the best possible coach for our national team at this moment of time,” Sumathipala said.

The SLC chief further sheds some light on what convinced the board to go for Hathurusingha.

“We looked at what Sri Lanka cricket is all about, what are the kind of ideas the coach has (we are looking for), we structured the plan, we looked at opportunities and the people who are available.. then we were looking at the current game, which is highly technical now as well as most of the coaches are working based on scientific evidence, and they are all using most of the technology, depending on technical assistance.. in that context, we found Hatu (Chandika Hathurusingha) is one of the top world-class coaches,” he said.

“He is always one person who believes in technology and uses it in the best interest of the team. So when we had shortlisted people who are available right now, even though Hathurusingha wasn’t available at that time, COO, myself spoke to him and spoke with him about the possibility of working. Then we informed BCB about our intention if Hathurusingha is available, then our technical committee will.. he’s our ideal candidate who we would like to engage as the head coach. They have released him in good faith, and we have managed to secure Hathurusingha’s services for a full time assignment as the head coach. We are happy to have a world class coach for the national team,” he added.

Moreover, what perhaps worked in Hathurusingha’s favour was the absence of language barriers, and Sumathipala pointed that out.

“He’s a very matured coach, qualified, his approach fits well with the kind of people and players we have. More than anything else, he is a Sri Lankan, he can communicate much better than anyone else with the players, that’s another advantage. Not only as a coach or a Sri Lankan, he’s been a a world-class player – a former Test player,” he said.

But while the task of bringing back Sri Lankan cricket back on track looks an enormous one, Hathurusingha, who officially took charge of his new post on Wednesday, dismissed suggestions that he was under pressure.

“Listening to president and the sports minister and thinking of all the expectations, there’s no pressure for me,” he said. “This is all opportunities. Looking from outside, looking at our team, I thought It’s great opportunity for me to come here and maximize the potential in the Sri Lanka team that I see from outside. I am looking forward to that challenge and I take that challenge as a very good opportunity to take the team forward.”

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