By Mazhar Uddin
During most of his three-plus years of coaching Bangladesh, Chandika Hathurusingha was the centre of all discussions both positive and negative.
There were more than a few occasions that the Sri Lankan faced criticism from fans, players and the media because of his stern demeanour and straight-talking attitude.
And since Hathurusingha resignation from his post as the Tigers’ head coach became known in November last year, the 49-year-old did not reveal the amount of pressure felt during his tenure.
Interestingly, his first assignment as the Sri Lankan head coach was away in Bangladesh earlier this year when the visitors managed a clean sweep of the hosts in all three formats under Hathurusingha and, more importantly, Sri Lanka looked confident in their body language after a prolonged lean patch.
The home side also started off the Nidahas Trophy with a five-wicket win over India in the opening game and Sri Lanka will face Bangladesh yet again in their second game today.
Hathurusingha cut a busy figure during yesterday’s training session at the outer nets of the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo where he was working with Dhananjaya De Silva on his pull shot and explaining to the right-hander to keep both his legs flexible while pulling a short ball on the up.
A calmer Hathurusingha has his own style of coaching which helped Bangladesh immensely over during a large portion of his tenure between mid 2014 and late 2017 and it seemed Sri Lanka are getting the benefit of a relaxed and astute head coach now.
While viewing Sri Lanka’s training session, this reporter went up to Kusal Mendis, the right-hander having just finished batting in the nets, and asked: “Do you think Hathurusingha is more like Jose Mourinho [Manchester United coach]?”
“Oh yes,” was Mendis’s smiling reply.
Soon enough, Hathurusingha noticed this reporter watching and asked with a smile: “Oh, how are you?”
When congratulated on his team’s win in the first game against the world’s top-ranked side, Hathurusingha volunteered the following insight: “You know, I am very relaxed here. It’s easier coaching in Sri Lanka… you know what I mean?”
Those words, coming from a coach who was not often forthcoming with the media during his time in Bangladesh, was enough to intimate both the satisfaction he is feeling as Sri Lanka’s coach and the pressure he often felt as the Bangladesh coach.
-The Daily Star in Bangladesh
Be the first to comment