10 things to know about Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha

#9 Getting his revenge on Sri Lanka

A win to remember for both Bangladesh as well as Hathurasingha

Hathurusingha left Sri Lankan cricket in acrimonious circumstances in 2009 as stated earlier and despite then skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s repeated efforts to convince the board officials to reconsider their decision, there was no tracking back and he headed to Australia and the rest, as they say, is history.

The 48-year-old headed to Sri Lanka with the Bangladesh national team in 2016 and with former Sri Lankan cricketer Ruwan Kalpage as his deputy and another countryman in Mario Villavarayan as his team’s conditioning coach. And just as Sri Lankan stand-in skipper Rangana Herath feared at the time, Hathurusingha got his revenge as Bangladesh came out equal in all formats of the game, including a famous Test victory at the P Sara Oval, Hathurusingha’s home ground during his time as a cricketer with the Tamil Union.

That victory prompted S Skandakumar, a former captain, and president of Tamil Union C&AC, and at present Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Australia, to come out with the following message congratulating the Bangladesh head coach.

“My Dear Chandika, WOW is all I can say...and that too at the venue that nurtured you!!”

#10 Harbouring ambitions of returning to Sri Lanka cricket in 2019

Despite his past unpleasant experiences with the Sri Lankan board officials, Hathurusingha has time and again spoken of a desire to take over as Sri Lankan head coach once his contract with Bangladesh is over.

"I will absolutely come [if SLC asks me to]," he had said. "I am in this position today because of all the things I learned playing cricket in Sri Lanka. After I learned everything in Sri Lanka for about 20 years, I went to Australia and learned things there as well. But if Sri Lanka invites me at any time, I will happily come back to do something for the country."