Bangladesh head coach Hathurusinghe suspended for disciplinary reasons

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the suspension of head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe due to disciplinary reasons. He has been suspended for 48 hours and is set to be terminated following this period, pending further investigation. Additionally, Hathurusinghe has been issued a show-cause notice by the board. As an interim measure, Phil Simmons has been appointed as the acting head coach and will lead the team until the conclusion of the 2025 Champions Trophy.

"Hathurusinghe has two counts of misconduct," BCB president Faruque Ahmed said. "First is about an assault on a player. Secondly, he took too many leaves, more than what was in his contract."

Hathurusinghe returned for his second stint as Bangladesh coach in February last year. In August this year, shortly after Ahmed was appointed as board president, he had said that Hathurusinghe should no longer continue as Bangladesh's head coach.

Under Hathurusinghe, Bangladesh put up underwhelming performances during last year's ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup campaign this year. 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.

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