'Hathurusingha is more mature now, he will be good for us'

Bangladesh's national cricket team is currently without a head coach. Last night, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appointed David Moore as the Head of Programs but the post of head coach is still empty. The BCB are almost very close in their pursuit to replace Russel Domingo though. If everything goes right, Chandika Hathurusingha is going to be named the head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team once again. 

In 2017, this Lankan coach left Bangladesh's head coach role after he allegedly had troubles with some senior cricketers. Apart from the distance with the cricketers, Hathurusingha's manner of leaving Bangladesh was not well-taken.

The question remains whether bringing back the old coach after five years will be good for Bangladesh cricket. BCB director and former captain Khaled Mahmud feels that it will be good for Bangladesh if a more mature Hathurusingha takes the charge. 

As he has experience of working with Hathurusingha, Khaled Mahmud was asked about the Lankan coach outside the Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Thursday. When asked whether it would be good for Bangladesh to take charge of Hathurusingh, he said, "I am not sure about Hathuru. But he did work here before, it can be good for us.'

"Bangladesh has a lot of good performances under him. I believe now that he is more mature, it will be good for us. It won't be bad if he comes for a second time. He knows our culture and his experience will help us, honestly," he added. 

Apart from bringing back Hathurusingha again, BCB is keen to keep T20 technical consultant Sridharan Sriram in the coaching staff for the long term.

In the words of Khaled Mahmud, 'We in BCB think of who will be good for Bangladesh cricket. If it's Hathuru or Sriram, or whoever, or both of them, that's fine. Even three is fine. I will think about what is good for the country, and for the team. Whoever comes should be able to serve the team. It is also important to be able to coach for a long time."