Russell Domingo
In the short list of high profile names, former South Africa coach Russell Domingo arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday and gave interview to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hasan Papon at the Beximco office for the position of Bangladesh's head coach. According to BCB source, Domingo arrived on Wednesday morning and went to Beximco office in the afternoon. He is expected to leave today.
Rumours are galore that Domingo is likely to Bangladesh's head coach. Chairman of BCB Media and Communications Committee Jalal Younus revealed that two more coaches will be interviewed very soon but he did not disclose their name and interview date.
"We'll try to take the interview of the rest of the two coaches within very short time. But at the moment I am not in a position to disclose who those two coaches are and when they will be interviewed. What I can say is that we'll try to take the interview before Eid break," Younus said in the city on Wednesday.
In almost two and half hour long interview session, Domingo gave the presentation of his candidature."He presented his future plan with Bangladesh cricket team and I will say it is quite satisfactory. His background is also good.
He is now with South Africa A team and he was the coach of South African national team. But it's not the end of the world as I said that we have two coaches also. We'll see how they present their plan," he added.Apart from Domingo, former Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha, Mahela Jayawardene, Tom Moody is also in the list of BCB.
The Bangladesh head coach position has been vacant since Steve Rhodes' time as Bangladesh head coach came to an end following the team's eighth-place finish at the World Cup.
BCB is yet to find a head coach for the national team after the end of Steve Rhodes chapter. After that, Bangladesh played a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka without a designated head coach. Khaled Mahmud was given the role of interim head coach for the Sri Lanka series but Bangladesh frustrated under the stand-in captain Tamim Iqbal, facing 3-0 whitewash.
Domingo currently holds the position of South Africa 'A' coach, with a tour to India on the horizon that precedes the Proteas' T20 International and Test series against Virat Kohli's team. The 44-year-old remains the only South African coach to oversee a Proteas win in the knockout stages of the ICC World Cup when the team eliminated Sri Lanka at the quarter-final stage in Sydney in 2015.
For many, Domingo would also have been viewed as a strong candidate to take the Proteas to India for the three-match T20I and three-match Test series on an interim basis, if Cricket South Africa had not filled the vacancy after Ottis Gibson's exit this week.
The BCB have already renewed former Proteas batsman Neil McKenzie's contract after the Bangladesh batsmen impressed at the World Cup, while they also recently acquired the services of former Proteas swing bowler Charl Langeveldt. Both McKenzie (batting coach) and Langeveldt (bowling coach) were part of Domingo's Proteas support staff during his tenure with the SA national team, and his appointment would complete the triumvirate.
BCB could be tempted to lure another former Proteas coach in Mickey Arthur, after he was released by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday, should they not close the deal with Domingo.
Arthur, though, could be viewing a more high-profile post with the English Cricket Board, as World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss will vacate his role after the Ashes.
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