DHAKA, July 15, 2019 (BSS) -Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) gave Wasim Jaffer and Champaka Ramanayake a charge to look after the national team’s batting and bowling departments in their tour in Sri Lanka later this month in the wake of the unavailability of the coaches in this posts at the moment.
Bangladesh’s current batting consultant Neil McKenzie, who just looks after the Tigers ODI batting, is not available for the series against Sri Lanka due to his personal affair while the BCB deiced not to renew the contract of fast bowling coach Courtney Walsh, leaving the two important posts vacant.
Jaffer was appointed for the batting consultant of High Performance (HP) team for just a week ago while Ramanayake has been working with HP for quite some time now. Both of the HP coaches were seen working with the national players after they returned to country from the disappointing World Cup outing.
Jaffer who was key in helping Soumya Sarkar regain the killer form just before the World Cup following a prolonged poor form in white-ball cricket, now has been working with Tamim Iqbal.
The opener, most successful batsman of the country who piled up mountain of runs in between 2015 to 2019 suddenly lost the form in the World Cup and returned with just 235 runs.
Jaffer, the former Indian opener who made avalanche of runs in first class cricket, was seen spending an extensive net session with Tamim for the last several days.
Their association with the players raised a possibility that they could be involved with the national team during the Sri Lanka tour where Bangladesh will play a three-match ODI series on July 26, 28 and 31 at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium.
However, cricket operations chairman Akram Khan endorsed the matter, saying that both of them have been given the additional responsibility to look after the players.
“They are not chosen as the replacement of McKenzie or Courtney Walsh,” Akram said here on Monday.
As per the contract with them, they are bound to take additional responsibilities.
“Champaka is also a very good bowling coach. We have that backup. For now, we will take him to this tour. And in batting coach, if Mckenzie is unable to give us time then we will take Wasim Jaffer as the batting coach,” he said.
“You all know there is a crisis about the head coach but we are trying to get one. We will take the service of Khaled Mahmud Sujon as our main coach but we are trying to get someone.”
Fielding coach Ryan Cook will join the side before the series while the former fitness trainer Mario Villavarayen will replace Thihan Chandramohan, whose contract was not also renewed.
“Mario will check the fitness of the players on July 18 when the camp for the series against Sri Lanka will start. Ryan Cook will also join before the series.”