The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to begin their search for a new head coach for the Tigers as Chandika Hathurusingha remained rigid in his decision to quit the job.
Chandika communicated with BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and, according to a board insider, the Sri Lankan once again expressed his unwillingness to continue with the job and said that he would stick to the decision he made during the South Africa tour. Now Chandika will visit Bangladesh within a short time to settle the contractual obligations.
One of Chandika's close aides in the Bangladesh team corroborated the news, sending a text message to a player which said "he is gone", and another stating "let's move forward". So unless there is a dramatic U-turn from the Sri Lankan, the Chandika-era is going to end soon.
BCB director Jalal Yunus confirmed the latest communication between their CEO and head coach but he was not clear about whether Chandika had changed his mind or not.
"CEO [Nizamuddin] and Chandika talked about the issue but I cannot say what they discussed or whether he will join or not. But we will start to search for a new coach if he doesn't come in time," said Yunus.
"We will go slowly in search of a suitable head coach because we have enough time before the 2019 World Cup. I don't want to say whether he will continue or not but we have to take preparations so that we can find a good coach. It's not that easy to find a good coach for the national team," he continued.
For a second successive day Chandika's resignation was the centre of discussion despite the fact that the BPL's Dhaka-leg got underway at Mirpur yesterday.
Bangladesh ODI and Rangpur Riders captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and first match hero Mominul Haque had to face questions regarding the resignation at the post-match briefing.
"It is very difficult to say anything about this issue as board is still talking with him [Hathurusingha]. We just learnt that he resigned," said Mashrafe.
When asked whether he had gotten any hints during the South Africa tour, Mashrafe said: "Honestly I was there for two weeks but didn't feel like he was going to resign as we talked about a lot of positive things. We had actually wanted to win at least one game there [in South Africa]."
He was also unwilling to comment on whether the relationship between the coach and senior players had soured.
"We will know about the options when he confirms [his resignation] and we will give our opinion if the board wants. We still have time before the World Cup so whether Chandika stays or a new coach comes they will get enough time," added Mashrafe when asked about their choice for a new coach.
When asked about the issue, Mominul said with a smile: "It's better to avoid the question."
