Hathurasingha's dismissal linked to Nasum incident, reveals BCB report

Former Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan has accused Tamim Iqbal and former BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus of trying 'to build a case' to oust former coach Chandika Hathurusingha from the national team. Shakib alleges that they did so by leaking Hathurusingha's altercation with Nasum Ahmed to the media.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board formed a three-member committee to assess their 2023 World Cup failure. According to the report of the committee, which was accessed by Cricbuzz, the reason for Hathurasingha's dismissal was cited to be his altercation with Nasum Ahmed, a claim Hathurasingha recently denied while stating that he fled Bangladesh fearing for his life.

Between December 2023 and January 2024, the special committee conducted private one-on-one meetings with the following persons. It should be noted that all conversations were recorded and documented with the consent of those invited:

Cricketers - Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Kumar Das, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Sakib, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh Captain at World Cup 2023), Tamim Iqbal (not part of the World Cup Squad)

Team Management & Coaching Staff - Rabeed Imam (National Team Operations Manager, World Cup 2023), Nicholas Lee (National Team Strength & Conditioning Coach), Chandika Hathurusingha (National Team Head Coach), Bayjedul Islam Khan (National Team Physio), Khaled Mahmud (National Team Director)

National Selection Panel - Minhazul Abedin (Chairman, National Selection Panel), Kazi Habibul Bashar (Member, National Selection Panel).

BCB Director - Mohammed Jalal Yunus (Chairman, Cricket Operations Committee, BCB).

"Handing over of captaincy at the eleventh hour was not ideal. The captaincy could have been announced before the Asia Cup. The Head Coach was unable to execute his duty properly due to inadequate time to prepare before the World Cup," Shakib said in his recorded statement.

"The reason for the poor performance at the World Cup is the frequent changing of players. The media had also influenced this. Changes in the batting order had created problems and resulted in bad performance," he said.

Shakib added that during the World Cup, division between Hathurusingha and other coaches were visible. "The current head coach (Hathurusingha) is good for the Bangladesh team. However, during the World Cup, the tension between the Head Coach and the other Coaches was visible. The formation of the World Cup team was alright. Any information related to a player's injury must come from the physio, and not from the player,

"Confidential team information had been leaked. Any matter related to the team goes to the media which is harmful. The Team Director does not need to be present in team meetings,

"Caution should be exercised before appointing team assistants/team boys. They may pass confidential team information,

"Chairman cricket operations (Jalal Yunus) and Tamim Iqbal had called Nasum about the 'slapping' allegation and had leaked it to the media to build a case against the Head Coach so that he could be sacked".

Major findings and revelations from discussions with National Team Members (Players, Coaches, Management):

- The strain in the relationship between the Head Coach and support staff was visible to everyone. However, the Head Coach and most players got along well in comparison.

- Most players had heard about an alleged incident involving the Head Coach and Nasum Ahmed during the match with New Zealand in Chennai, with the cricketer being the alleged victim. However, there were no eyewitnesses among the cricketers, and Nasum had not shared his side of the story with any responsible member of the management.

- The general understanding among team members was that it was a relatively minor issue at a tense moment in a match and had no adverse effect on the team. Strength & Conditioning Coach Nicholas Lee was the lone eyewitness and claimed to have seen the Head Coach 'hit' Nasum in the neck area.

- Nasum, who was a substitute fielder in the match, stated in his meeting with the committee that the Head Coach got angry at him for a supposed delay in getting something to the batsmen in the middle and pulled him by his shirt's collar and hit him. He felt shocked and humiliated and only told selector Habibul Bashar about what had happened later. He appeared more concerned with the fact that the matter was leaked to the media when the team returned home, and he was worried about his social image.

- The Head Coach said he had no recollection of any such incident with Nasum. Nasum informed the Team Director that he felt the Head Coach's attitude towards him was hostile in general.

- Team morale suffered most with the defeat against the Netherlands. From that point onwards, confidence took a nosedive. Players were mentally and physically exhausted due to the duration (46 days) of the event. Homesickness and fatigue were genuine concerns.

- Consistently failing to deliver with the bat in batting-friendly conditions was the main reason for underperformance. There were no complaints in terms of training facilities or the sincerity of the Head Coach, who was always available for guidance. The relationship between players and other members of the coaching staff was good.

- Players did not discuss the frequent changes in batting positions among themselves, and no one had expressed displeasure within the team about the batting order.

- The bonding between the players was good. However, there was a clear division in the coaching group. At one stage, the Head Coach became almost isolated. He and Bowling Coach Allan Donald were openly disagreeing on strategy planning, etc. Mutual respect was not present. The Fielding Coach Shane McDermott, who had heard that his contract may not be renewed post-World Cup, also appeared unhappy with the Head Coach who, for his part, could not resolve the issue and unify the coaches. This raised questions about his management skills. The other coaches and Technical Consultant S Sriram preferred to stay neutral. The rift among the coaches had a negative impression among team members.

- All the coaches, especially Nicholas Lee and Shane McDermott, were hard-working and were ever ready to help players out. However, the internal problems they were having had dampened their spirit.

- Only after reaching India did the squad feels that it was there for the World Cup. The issue with Tamim Iqbal's sudden announcement of retirement and subsequent developments, including his omission from the World Cup team, the hurried declaration of Shakib Al Hasan as captain, and the constant criticism in the media had severely affected mental focus and preparation in the lead-up to the big event.

- Shakib Al Hasan was reluctant to take up the captaincy as he wanted to focus solely as a player in the event. The captaincy responsibility at such short notice did not allow Shakib to complete his preparations, and some physical issues, including a quad strain and vision complication, bothered him.

- Despite the challenges, he tried his best to motivate the players and had a good working relationship with the coaches and management. He was very determined in practice but still had a poor World Cup by his standards. He did make a massive statement in the penultimate game of the tournament against Sri Lanka in New Delhi where he made 82 while batting with a fractured finger and helped Bangladesh beat the Lankans and secure a Champions Trophy 2025 spot.

- Players often play with a sense of fear of failure. They are worried that non-performance may get them dropped and they will suffer financially. The players also felt uncomfortable with the constant pressure and negative coverage put on by the mainstream media and social media.

- Coaches always encouraged the players. The Head Coach is a strict person, and some players feel intimidated while talking to him. This can be due to the language barrier. His style is aggressive, but he would explain his plans with logic.

- Coaches found this World Cup the hardest and most stressful. In the two years before the World Cup, the performance of the Bangladesh Team was very consistent, and some felt that changing the Head Coach was made at the wrong time and this had impacted the performance in the tournament. Frequent changes to the supporting staff also made the team environment uneasy.

- The Head Coach and Captain decided the batting order. Mahmudullah Riyad was the best performer for Bangladesh in the World Cup, and he was asked to bat lower down the order initially, which he accepted sportingly. When the top-order players struggled, he was told that he would bat higher. He prefers a stable batting position but had no issues with the positions he had to adapt to.

- Expectations from the team at the World Cup were unrealistic. The title contenders were ahead of Bangladesh in pedigree and form. Bangladesh had never won more than three matches in a World Cup, and anything above that would have been considered an improvement. At the start of the tournament, the team was confident of beating Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and one or two of the non-Subcontinental teams in favourable conditions.

- The media and social media created the hype of semifinal dreams and of winning the World Cup. The matches that were won during the event were possible due to individual performances and not by the team performance.

- The sudden retirement of Tamim Iqbal, who was the ODI captain, put Bangladesh in a very difficult situation to find a perfect replacement opener just before the World Cup. Team members, including the Head Coach, said they did not know why Tamim had retired. The Head Coach claimed that in general, his relationship with Tamim was healthy.

- Reasons for frequent changes in the batting order: Inability of the players to handle particular bowlers, injury, and the impressive form of Mehidy Hasan Miraj in a makeshift opener's role. The shuffling in batting position was informed to the players at least two days ahead of a match by the Captain and Head Coach. Because of a shortage of all-rounders, the team formation and batting orders had to be tinkered with. The final decision was taken by the Captain, Head Coach, the player, and the Batting Coach.

- Failure in implementing team and match planning, including the playing XI selection, was evident. After winning the first match, the winning combination was broken in the next match. In the match against the Netherlands, the appropriate playing XI was not picked although the pitch in Kolkata was favourable for Bangladesh. The tour was 47 days, but surprisingly, only 8-10 days of practice sessions were utilised. For the match against Pakistan, the playing XI was declared on the previous day of the match. But after going to the ground on the match day, the team was changed, which impacted the players. In most cases, players were not aware whether they were in the team or not for the next match until the match day.

- The Team Director said he could not intervene in team planning, apparently because his Terms of Reference from the Board did not give him the authority to do so. He had expressed his displeasure in the media and to the committee, and said he did not enjoy the Team Director's role at this World Cup.