Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe has been suspended by the BCB on disciplinary grounds.
He has been suspended for 48 hours and is to be “terminated immediately”. Phil Simmons will take over as head coach in an interim capacity till the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Hathurusinghe returned for his second stint as Bangladesh coach in February last year. It was met with mixed reaction among former captains, most notably current BCB president Faruque Ahmed who questioned BCB’s decision to bring him back at the time.
Under Hathurusinghe, Bangladesh put up underwhelming performances during last year’s ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup campaign this year.
“We have served him [Hathurusingha] with a showcase notice and suspension from duty as head coach. He has been suspended not because of the team’s performance, but for slapping a player during last ODI World Cup and for spending holidays more than that was mentioned in his contract,” said the BCB chairman Faruque Ahmed.
His best achievement during this term was Bangladesh’s 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan this year. It was their maiden win in Pakistan, and first overseas Test series win in 15 years.
However, in the India tour that followed, they lost 2-0 in the Tests and 3-0 in the T20Is which included a record loss in the third match. (With inputs from ESPN)