Cricket: Haturusingha expected to take over Bangladesh’s test and ODI squads

Unofficially, Chandika Hathurusingha looks set to return as the head coach of the Bangladesh national men's team, with Cricket New South Wales confirming that he is leaving the position of assistant coach with them.

The update follows media speculation in Bangladesh that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has reached an agreement with Hathurusingha.

Hathurusingha, also an ex-coach of his land of birth, would be returning to Bangladesh for his second stint. 

BCB president Nazmul Hassan said on Monday that the new head coach - to replace Russell Domingo - would be appointed between February 18 and 20. 

"The coach will come. I don't know if it is Hathuru or someone else, neither has the BCB announced it, but you will see," Hassan was quoted saying by a popular cricket website. 

"He will definitely be in place before the England series [starting March 1]. I won't say who it will be. He will be here by February 18-20."

Hathurusingha was with the Bangladesh team from 2014 to 2017, with the famous ODI-winning streak at home starting under his watch. He left unceremoniously after the South Africa tour in 2017, before returning to Bangladesh with the Sri Lanka team as its head coach a few months later. The BCB has, in the past, said it wanted a coach like Hathurusingha, known to be stern and aggressive, and after his departure, both Steve Rhodes (2018 to 2019) and Domingo (2019 to 2022) were thought of as soft by the BCB.

Hathurusingha would be the second Sri Lankan coach with a Bangladeshi national team, after Hashan Tillakaratne, is now the head coach of the national women's team. 

India's Sridharan Sriram is expected to continue being in-charge of Bangladesh's T20I team.