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Bangladesh national team head coach Russell Domingo’s future is up in the air at the moment, and a decision from the Bangladesh Cricket Board is likely to be made on Monday.
Domingo, appointed following the 2019 World Cup, has a contract running till the 2023 World Cup, but he may be relieved of his duties of coaching the side in the shortest international format of the game.
Bangladesh have won only two Twenty20 Internationals this year and only three of their last 19.
Thus, BCB is considering a new coaching staff for the T20 side to change the team’s mindset and approach to the format.
For that, they appointed Sridharan Sriram as the technical consultant of the T20 side until the World Cup in Australia. Sriram previously worked with Australia national team and Indian Premier League sides.
The former Indian cricketer is expected to arrive Dhaka today.
This put Domingo’s involvement with the T20 team in question, and BCB President Nazmul Hassan said on Friday that there will be a meeting with the South African on Monday. BCB director Khaled Mahmud, also the team director of the national side, said on Saturday that a decision would be made on Monday.
“The president will decide (about the T20 head coach) on August 22 (Monday). It will be made after talking to Sriram. I know Sriram, but I don’t know how he coaches.
“The decision about who will stay and who won’t will be made after Papon bhai (Nazmul) speaks with everyone. For now, Sriram has joined as the technical consultant until the World Cup. We are working with that in mind, and we will see what happens,” Mahmud told the media after the national team’s practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
Mahmud also explained why Bangladesh did not appoint a head coach but hinted that it may change in the near future.
“I have not spoken with Russell. He is very professional. As Bangladesh national team has a head coach, we are not appointing anybody as a head coach. Sriram has been brought as the technical consultant.
“BCB will decide who they will keep in which position. But Russell has not said anything, and as far as I know, he is a positive person. I hope the board will talk to him soon. There’s a chance of talking today,” the BCB director said.
The BCB president had talked about a split coaching staff due to the heavy workload coming up for Bangladesh in the next four years, which might start with Domingo’s axing from the shortest format.
And there have been reports that Domingo might call it quits with Bangladesh soon but Mahmud believes the South African will not be unhappy with splitting the coaching staff for different formats.
“Regarding split coaching- everybody wants a break. I don’t think any coach would differ. If we do anything like that, I don’t think Russell will take it negatively. It’s not about giving Russell a break, it’s more about trying something new.
“Everybody thinks differently. Every coach has a different philosophy. But maybe his (Domingo) philosophy is not working for us. This cannot be done by talking. It’s clear that we are not performing in T20Is. So, for the country’s cricket, if a different philosophy is brought in, then where’s the problem? That is the thinking. Let’s see what happens,” Mahmud said.
Thus, the former Bangladesh captain believes they can do some experiments in this format.
“We can do some experiments in this format, which we cannot do in ODIs,” he said.
On Saturday, Domingo led the team during their practice session at the SBNCS ahead of the Asia Cup. But with the tournament coming in fast and BCB seemingly looking for a complete change-up, the South African is currently on a tightrope and may not be there to conduct the T20 side after Monday.
