Hathurusingha: Not illogical for me to leave Bangladesh post

Former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said it was not illogical for him to leave the Tigers job despite having a contract running till the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Hathurusingha, who is currently touring Bangladesh for the tri-nation ODI series as the coach of the Sri Lanka team, faced the local media Sunday for the first time since he left the Tigers dressing room. Former Lankan cricketer Hathurusingha resigned from the role of Bangladesh head coach last year following a dreadful tour of South Africa where the Tigers lost all seven international matches across the three formats. Hathurusingha's sudden exit sparked off many versions as to why he decided to resign but the reason that was discussed widely among the Bangladesh fans was that he had differences with the cricketers. According to the BCB president Nazmul Hasan, Hathurusingha made the decision to quit during the South Africa tour. “I do not think it was illogical for me to leave Bangladesh job otherwise I would not have left. Unfortunately I am not going to go into details about my professional commitment or my dealings with BCB. So I can’t answer that,” said Hathurusingha to the media at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Sunday.

@Angelo69Mathews appointed as Sri Lanka's limited-overs captain! #LKA pic.twitter.com/QoYOEbSktt

— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) January 9, 2018

Infamous for being an emotional character, Hathurusingha worked with the Bangladesh cricketers for around three and a half years and it was under the Sri Lankan’s supervision that the Tigers had scripted their most successful stories, particularly in ODIs which includes qualifying for the semi-final of on an ICC event for the very first time in history after they beat New Zealand in the group stage of the Champions Trophy last year. “I have been in Bangladesh for three and a half years and probably everyone knows that I am not an emotional person. So there is not much emotion attached (that I have left Bangladesh). I still want Bangladesh to do well and wish the players well because I worked closely with them. Got to know them very well. So I want them to have lots of success in their life and same with the Bangladesh team. But at the same time this is my job now, I want Sri Lanka to do well,” Hathurusingha said. Bangladesh since Hathurusingha’s departure saw changes in the dressing room with the exclusions of batsman Souya Sarkar and paceman Taskin Ahmed for under-performance.

Sri Lanka Cricket team will leave tomorrow morning for Bangladesh, will play a ODI triangular, 2 Tests and 2 T20Is pic.twitter.com/rZw4uvu7rn

— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) January 12, 2018

It was rumoured in recent times that Soumya got repeated favours from Hathurusingha, despite not performing to the best of his ability. Hathurusingha however, denied the allegation, saying, “Bangladesh team are not one or two players. They can have another five players missing and still perform. I don’t have favourite players. I have favourite when they perform. You can’t judge Bangladesh team with one or two players. They are important players but it doesn’t mean that it is a one- or two-player team.” It is being widely discussed that Bangladesh might be in for a tricky situation now that Hathurusingha will be the opposition coach. The 49-year old during his tenure was often tagged as the mastermind of Bangladesh strategies and had worked closely with the cricketers, particularly with the batsmen. However, Hathurusingha believes this will not work as an advantage to Sri Lanka. “There’s a lot of information available in cricket these days. The players know each other very well. At the same time there are enough information available. They also know how I plan and think, so there’s no real advantage,” Hathurusingha explained.