There is a saying that in politics, you can never say never. Now it seems that this saying is also valid for cricket. Otherwise, who could’ve thought that Chandika Hathurusingha would once again become the coach of the Bangladesh cricket team!
I can clearly see your squinted eyebrows through my third eye. News of Hathurusingha’s return was floating around for a few days. Then what’s so surprising about the rumour proving to be true?
Right now, it may not seem that surprising. However, Hathurusingha returning to Bangladesh after he quite literally abandoned the team when he quit the job last time could be counted as one of the more surprising stories in cricket history.
Do you remember, in 2017 he sent his letter of resignation while on a tour with the Bangladesh team in South Africa! He didn’t show any regard for his contract with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
It was natural for BCB to be furious about the whole situation. What’s funny is that the BCB president at the time, Nazmul Hassan, is still in power. Clearly, he no longer remembers Hathurusingha’s unprofessional behaviour.
Contrarily, he has reserved the memories of the success Bangladesh cricket achieved under Hathurusingha’s supervision.
Bangladesh cricket did in fact achieve many notable successes during Hathurusingha’s first tenure. Reaching the quarterfinal of the 2015 World Cup, winning consecutive One-Day International (ODI) series against Pakistan, India and South Africa, playing the semifinal of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy– Bangladesh became a force to be reckoned with in ODI cricket in that period.
There were some notable successes in Tests as well. After beating England and Australia in Mirpur, Bangladesh won its 100th Test against Sri Lanka. These three wins were Bangladesh’s greatest successes in Tests before conquering New Zealand in Mount Maunganui at the beginning of last year. With all things considered, Hathurusingha’s first tenure will have to be marked as a success.
But it’s also true that Hathurusingha had Bangladesh’s greatest ever team at his disposal. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hassan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah were all at the height of their powers. Mustafizur Rahman burst onto the scenes, dazzling everyone around him.
However, from another perspective, the coach also deserves at least some of the credit for bringing the best out of everyone and forming the team! Especially, considering Hathurusingha took over the responsibility in mid-2014. The Bangladesh team was going through an absolutely abysmal period. After a procession of defeats, they had almost forgotten what it was like to win.
Hathurusingha undoubtedly had a big hand in Bangladesh recovering from that situation. However, it also needs to be said, he also harmed Bangladesh cricket by taking shortcuts to achieve success.
Preparing wickets that offered judicious turn to win against England and Australia, expectedly, didn’t bring any long-term benefit for Test cricket. But the biggest ‘harm’ he had caused was breaking all conventional norms of cricket.
Cricket operations committee, which is responsible to take care of the national team, became somewhat ineffectual during his tenure. The autonomy of selectors was also hampered during that period. Bangladesh cricket is still feeling the effects of it.
During his first tenure, Hathurusingha had turned into such a tyrant that sometimes it seemed that perhaps this Sri Lankan is the most powerful man in Bangladesh cricket. However, BCB were more at fault for that than him as they paved the way for him to become like that.
Because of this character trait, Hathurusingha couldn’t survive as coach of his native Sri Lanka for too long. There is a fear that Hathurusingha will turn into a bigger tyrant after getting reappointed for a second term even after abandoning Bangladesh in his first term.
Controlling Hathrusingha will be a challenge for BCB. Hathrusingha will also face a few challenges. Barring a few instances, the second innings is always more difficult in cricket compared to the first innings. Moreover, Bangladesh cricket is going through a change.
Mashrafe is no longer there. Four out of the five stalwarts are at the very end of their careers. There are plenty of reasons to think that they won’t be too pleased to see the return of Hathurusingha. This will make Hathrusingha’s challenge even more daunting.
Can Hathrusingha make it work?
*This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy