SLC all set to hire Chandika Hathurusingha as Sri Lanka's head coach

Bangladesh national team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is all set to join the Sri Lankan team as the chief coach. Hathurusingha, who is a former Sri Lanka player, enjoyed success with Bangladesh national team as a head coach. Now, Sri Lanka Cricket roped him in to obtain a head coach after Graham Ford regained from the helm.

Hathurusingha played 26 Tests and 35 ODIs for Sri Lanka. Though he was not known for his batting achievements he has done a commendable job as a coach. Under his guidance, Bangladesh cricket’s transformed occurred. They played the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup for the first team and at home, defeated India, Pakistan and South Africa and drew a Test series against England.

“Negotiation are going on with Chandika also. Though there are few others, most notably Dean Jones and Jason Gillespie, Chandika is the most likely to take over if everything goes well,” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.

Kumar Sangakkara reckons him as national asset

His success with the Bangladeshi team caught the attention of SLC who now wanted to rely on Hathurusingha’s innovations to revive cricket in the country. Earlier, he worked as a shadow coach with Sri Lankan team during Kumar Sangakkara’s tenure as a captain. It was the legendary batsman Sangakkara who pleaded the SLC to hire Hathurusingha. At that time, Sangakkara also hailed Hathurusingha as Sri Lanka’s national asset.

Under Hathurusingha’s coaching, Bangladesh has become one of the most competitive sides in international cricket, especially on their home soil. Bangladesh has also seen the rise of mystery medium pacer Mustafizur Rahman who took the world by surprise.

The coach brought fresh thinking in Bangladesh cricket and many talented youngsters rose to fame under his tutelage. It is expected that SLC will ink the deal by January 2018.

Sri Lanka are all set to tour India for three-match Test series, three-match ODI and three-match T20I series. The series will start on November 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.