Shakib’s sabbatical contributed to Hathurusingha’s departure: Papon

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan Papon said on Saturday that Shakib Al Hasan’s sudden sabbatical from Test cricket combined with a poor mentality carried by the senior team’s cricketers during the South Africa series prompted Chandika Hathurusingha to resign from his position.

Hathurusingha arrived at Dhaka on Saturday to complete his exit formalities with BCB as he gears up to take over a similar role with Sri Lanka from December 20.

The BCB president, who convened a meeting with senior cricketers regarding their work plan for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka in the afternoon, met with the now former Bangladesh coach. Nazmul said that Hathurusingha was in the process of submitting a report on the South Africa tour.

“He was particularly frustrated with the board allowing Shakib Al Hasan to rest during the Test series against South Africa,” Nazmul told reporters after the meeting with Hathurusingha.

“There were several other issues, apart from what transpired in South Africa, which added up to the coach’s decision to quit.
“He is very disappointed with the South Africa tour. The type of cricket, the mentality, everything.

He said he couldn’t believe the cricket Bangladesh played during the tour. He had problem with the cricketers’ mentality. For example, he didn’t agree with the fact that Shakib didn’t go to play the Test series.
“Why won’t he play such an important series for the team,” said Nazmul, quoting Hathurusingha.
South Africa beat Bangladesh in every game across Tests, ODIs and T20Is as the visitors battled alien conditions and a host of injury-related problems. The timid manner of the defeats, however, irked Hathurusingha, who’d been building up the Bangladesh side to become more competitive across formats and conditions.

“There were several other issues which we didn’t address at the time. There was a communication gap. So putting it all together, he felt that he didn’t have much more to give to this team. He gave what he could, [but felt now] that he should leave this team. He felt that Bangladesh won’t be going forward the way it was moving,” Nazmul said.

Hathurusingha also met with other BCB high-ups including CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and directors Ismail Haider Mallick, Khaled Mahmud and Akram Khan to exchange his views on the future of Bangladesh cricket. “He spoke particularly about issues that will help take Bangladesh cricket forward,” Nazmul revealed. “He told us about the things we need to do, avoid, and look into in order to take the next step in our progress, reports Cricbuzz

“Hathurusingha emphasised on supporting cricketers for 10 years. We have to get the best out of them and if we can climb over mental barriers, Bangladesh can do a lot better.”