Sri Lanka suspend head coach Hathurusingha

The Sri Lankan Cricket board have taken the extraordinary step of suspending head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The move comes after he refused to resign from his post. He will not be a part of the team management for Sri Lanka’s home series against New Zealand.

Hathurusingha was appointed as coach in 2017 following his highly successful stint with Bangladesh. But things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for him with Sri Lanka struggling across all formats. They failed to reach the semi-finals of the recently concluded World Cup.

Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Shammi Silva confirmed the news while speaking to reporters in Colombo. He said:

“Hathurusingha will not be involved in this (New Zealand) series. We can’t tell you details because this might end up being a legal issue.“

Sports Minister Harin Fernando also gave a deadline to Hathurusingha to resign till the end of the New Zealand series. He also threatened legal action against him.

“If Hathurusingha does not leave, we may have to consider legal action or offer him a different job at the board.”

In his place, bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake has been appointed as the interim coach. New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka will begin with the two-match Test series on August 14. The tour will conclude with the final T20I of the three-match series on September 6.