By BIPIN DANI

Bangladesh’s Sri Lanka-born head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, who has been suspended on a disciplinary ground, will not take his premature suspension by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) lightly. 

The 56-year-old former all rounder will consult his lawyer for the show-cause notice issued to him, it is learnt here. He will not be returning to home country soon but will be in Dhaka for a few more days.

He, however, will not enjoy the longer notice period. He has been suspended with just a 48-hour notice. 

This was revealed by Faruque Ahmed, the new BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) chief. 

Speaking exclusively over his mobile from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, where he was about to board a Dubai-flight to attend the ICC meetings, he said, “Hathurusinghe was entitled to have 45-days paid leave in a year but he took more than 67 days above this and no proper clarification was received from him”. 

“His conduct with the players was also not good. His other notable offence was an assault on the player”. 

The BCB chairman didn’t reveal the name of the victim player but he is understood to be a good left-arm spinner of the team. Despite repeated phone calls to the player by this reporter, he didn’t respond. Maybe he is asked not to comment on the matter.

The incident happened during the Bangladesh-New Zealand match in the ODI World Cup held in India last year. During a match in Chennai, where this player was not a part of the final eleven and was sent in as a drinks-man. “In one of the sessions, the two Bangladeshi batters had asked for the drinks (it was very hot then) and the player was late in serving the water bottles to the batters and the coach was annoyed due to this and slapped him”, one of the sources said to this reporter. It is not known whether the slap was deliberate or was in gest. 

But the incident was brought to the notice of Nazmul Hassain Pappon, who was a BCB president then. No action was then taken against the coach. 

However, the new BCB chairman, who is also known for his strict principles even during his past tenure as a selector, took the matter seriously and suspended his contract which was scheduled to run until the 2025 Champions Trophy.