Hathurusingha submitted resignation during SA tour - BCB president

Chandika Hathurusingha sent in a letter wanting to step down from the post of Bangladesh head coach during the team's tour of South Africa last month, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan. He said that Hathurusingha had not discussed the matter with the board since then, but said he may be in Dhaka after November 15.

Hassan said that Hathurusingha didn't provide a reason for wanting to resign, but had done a similar thing in August 2016 when Sri Lanka Cricket offered him the head coach's position.

"He gave me a letter in the first week of October, possibly after the second Test [against South Africa] and definitely before October 15. He didn't specifically mention a reason, so I can't really say what has happened before I can speak to him. He said he is no longer interested.

"He had an offer from Sri Lanka last year; the country's president had called him to give him the proposal. He showed me offers from other countries. But now I am unable to say why he is leaving - whether it is a better offer, family reasons or something else that is bothering him."

Hassan said that Hathurusingha has stopped all communication with the BCB, except for taking one call in which he apparently said he will arrive in Dhaka later this month.

"We felt it was not appropriate to speak about this [resignation letter] during a series. I think we got him once on the phone, and he said he is coming after November 15. But he hasn't communicated with us since.

"If someone doesn't want to stay, what will we do with his notice period? What we can say is that he is a professional. Suddenly he gives us a letter and is sitting quietly in Australia. It is quite unusual. He lets us know if something is bothering him but during the [South Africa] series, he didn't communicate with us."

Hassan said that Hathurusingha was upset about what some players said about him in the media. He also said that he had confronted the players in front of Hathurusingha once on the matter, although he didn't mention names or the particular incident.

"[Hathurusingha] was hurt by things said about him by a couple of cricketers. I wasn't in South Africa but if he felt that they are not listening to him, why would he run the team? I am just giving an example. It might be a reason [for his resignation letter], although there might be a personal reason too.

"He didn't mention the media in the past but he used to say why do the players say such things in the media? I sat with him and the players a number of times, asking them why they lie in the media."

Hassan ruled out the theory that Hathurusingha is using his resignation letter as a bargaining chip. "I am sure it has nothing to do with bargaining. Money isn't an issue."