Domingo for another World Cup!

Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo is set for a contract renewal, which would see him be in charge of the side until the 2023 World Cup in India.

The contract, reportedly, has a clause included which ensures that Domingo will at least be in charge until the T20 World Cup next year in Australia.

Domingo was appointed as the head coach of the national team in 2019 after Steve Rhodes was sacked following the 2019 World Cup, where the Tigers finished eighth among 10 teams.

Domingo had initially applied to coach the High-Performance side but got the national team duties instead. Since his appointment, Domingo has failed to provide results except the home series wins over Australia and New Zealand on heavily spin-friendly pitches.

His tenure started with a Test defeat to Afghanistan, and after a Twenty20 international win against India, the Tigers lost the remaining T20Is and both the Tests.

This result was followed by a clean sweep against Zimbabwe in all three formats at home before Covid-19 brought the country’s cricket to a halt.

After cricket restarted in 2021, Domingo led Bangladesh to a 3-0 one-day international series win over a second-string West Indies side but lost the two-match Test series 2-0.

In their tour to New Zealand, Bangladesh were thrashed in both the ODI and T20I series 3-0. They were also beaten 1-0 in a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. After that, Bangladesh managed to string together an ODI series win over Sri Lanka at home, series wins in all three formats in Zimbabwe and series wins over Australia and New Zealand at home.

And then came the World Cup, where Bangladesh lost six out of their eight games, including a loss to Scotland.

Despite all that failure, Domingo is getting a contract extension, which his predecessor Rhodes did not.

It all seems like all of Domingo’s failure before the World Cup was wrapped with the glitter of back-to-back series wins over Australia and New Zealand, even though none of the sides were at their full strength.

Domingo’s renewal, according to various reports, was finalized verbally before the World Cup. Thus, the performances at the World Cup did not matter, and Domingo is all set to be the Tigers’ head coach for the next year at least.

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Chief Executive Officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed The Business Post that the board was agreed upon renewing Domingo’s contract.

“Our understanding is that we will extend his contract until 2023. The board is agreed upon that. But we cannot say it is final until it’s documented,” Nizamuddin said.

Despite winning a tri-nation series, which to date is Bangladesh’s only multi-national trophy and some encouraging performances in the World Cup, Rhodes was bid goodbye in no time after the World Cup.

But Domingo, and his staff, apparently are keeping a job after a World Cup where the team looked hapless throughout.

And if the contract is signed soon, that will mean that even if bad results continue along with the occasional bashing of lower-ranked sides like Zimbabwe, Domingo will keep his job because the special clause allows neither BCB nor Domingo to terminate the contract until a year is completed. If either party want to do it before then, they would have to pay the salary for the remaining year, and that is a heavy amount, even for BCB.