Chandika Hathurusingha all set to become Sri Lanka head coach

What’s the story?

Current Bangladesh coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, is all set to be appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan team.

According to Cricbuzz, Hathurusingha has already resigned from his post as the coach of Bangladesh.

The details

It has also been reported that the Sri Lankan board has been in talks with Hathurusingha for the post, but the former player was not too keen to take up the offer. Thus, the board requested Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara to convince him and this effort has yielded dividends if the current turn of events are to be believed.

Sri Lanka have been hunting for a new coach and had received applications from several candidates. Jason Gillespie and Geoff Marsh were shortlisted and emails were sent across to them. However, there was no mention of any negotiations with Hathurusingha.

In case you didn’t know…

Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have suffered miserable defeats over the past few months and there were speculations over changes in personnel.

Sri Lanka have been searching for a new coach and Hathurusingha was not too pleased with the current establishment in Bangladesh. Thus, this arrangement seems to have benefited both the players concerned.

However, Hathurusingha is contracted with the BCB till the 2019 World Cup and it would be interesting how things pan out.

What’s next?

Currently, the Sri Lankan team is in India under the watch of interim coach Nic Pothas.

If Hathurusingha is given the role, he is bound to face the same problems back home since many former Sri Lankan coaches have also complained about interference from politicians and former players in the day-to-day affairs which bypasses their role in the team.

Changing this current setup would be Hathurusingha's biggest headache once he gets the job.

Author’s take

The shuffling which is taking place was pretty much on expected lines after both teams have entered a stagnation point which has led to some measures being taken.

However, it all boils down to how the teams respond to the new people in charge of affairs and how long this transition takes time to bear fruits.