Hathurusingha will face different kinds of challenges: Fahim
DHAKA, Feb 2, 2023 (BSS) – Chandika Hathurusingha has been at the center of discussion ever since he was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh once again.
Hathurusingha, who previously supervised the side from 2014-2017, would start his second innings with Bangladesh during their white-ball home series against world champions England.
His appointment became the talk of the town particularly for his strained relationship with the players during his first spell. There was no secret that due to his pressure, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was forced to retire from the T20 cricket when the lanky paceman himself believed he still had a lot to offer.
Moreover, his relationship with senior players Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal also hit the lowest ebb when he resigned from the post in 2017.
Shakib now is the captain of Bangladesh’s Test and T20 teams while Tamim is leading the ODI team. There the question came to the fore of how he would deal with the players.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) earlier made it clear that they want a ‘full-time’ coach, who is stern and aggressive like Hathurusingha and the board was successful in convincing the former Sri Lankan batter to take up the role again.
The players, however, remained tightlipped on Hathurusingha’s issue with Shakib refusing to comment, saying just ‘no comments’.
So how will Chandika Hathurusingh’s second innings be in Bangladesh?
Fortune Barisal coach Nazmul Abedin Fahim, however, said things have changed since Hathurusingha left Bangladesh. He believes Hathurusingha will be keen to offer his best and so the previous relationship with the players will matter little.
“I am not sure whether (relationship with seniors) was good or not. Everything has changed since he left Bangladesh. I’m sure when a coach comes in, he wants to do well. He also has a career here. If the team does well, it is also good for him. I am sure he would like to do something good too,” Fahim said here today.
But according to Fahim, now there will be different kinds of challenges for Hathurusingha.
“We need a coach. And getting a good coach right now… I’m not saying that Hathurusinghe is not a good coach. Because of franchise cricket around the world, it’s now tough to get a good coach. So maybe we didn’t have much choice,”
“When he took the charge for the first time, the challenge was different. He had the success at that time. Now the team is settled. Here the challenges will be different. The better he understands it, the easier it will be for him to work. One thing is that he will get very good support from the board. Previously he also got good support from the board.”
Fahim said how he would control everything will be key to the success of the Bangladesh team.
“I think we should wait a bit and see. There are a lot of emerging players in the team and there are senior players who are in now different positions. He worked with those players seven/eight years ago. I am sure he has a plan. So we have to wait a bit to see how things pan out.”
