Two days after Bangladesh’s second Test against India in Dhaka, Russell Domingo sent his resignation as Bangladesh’s head coach. Domingo informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) of his decision on Tuesday and has since returned to his home in South Africa for a holiday break.
When the news was confirmed, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, Jalal Yunus, stated, “He has resigned with immediate effect. He sent a letter to the board’s CEO last night. He thanked the board for its support. He wished the team well. The deal with him will close according to the terms of his contract.”
The chairman also announced that a new coach would be confirmed before the England series in March. Aside from this, there is a chance that two new coaches will be introduced. One will be for the T20s, while the other will handle the Tests and ODIs. In addition, the BCB will be looking for a “high-performance manager or director.”
Before Domingo was appointed to the team, Steve Rhodes was Bangladesh’s head coach. The BCB sacked Rhodes following the ODI World Cup 2019, and Domingo replaced him in September.
Initially, Bangladesh had an abysmal outing in the 2021 T20 World Cup under Domingo. However, in the same year, they managed to win the T20I series against Australia and New Zealand. They also won their first-ever ODI series against South Africa on their home field. Recently, Bangladesh beat India in a home ODI series.
One of Domingo’s most significant achievements was the Tigers’ first-ever win in New Zealand, which came at the start of 2022 during the historic Mount Maunganui Test.
While Domingo had brought plenty of success for the Bangladesh team, there were rumors that the head coach would retire before the 2022 T20 World Cup. There were even whispers that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was unwilling to continue with the South African into the New Year.
This was evident when they side-lined the South African by appointing Sridharan Sriram as a T20 consultant for three months with plans to make him a head coach for the T20I.
In addition, the BCB has made it clear in numerous statements over the past few months that they were dissatisfied with Domingo’s lack of aggression in the locker room.
The head coach had opposed the strategy of tailor-made pitches at home in the Tests, pressing the importance of sporting tracks and placing an emphasis on featuring more pacers in the playing eleven.
In the aftermath of the Test Series against India, Yunus stated to reporters:
“We need a coach who has an impact and influence on the team. You will soon see some changes. We are trying. We want a very strong team that can play quality cricket. We want a highly competitive team. We were close to beating India, but it is tough to beat this team. We beat England and Australia on this ground, but India is a tougher side in these conditions.”
According to sources, Domingo’s contract was till the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup, he will now be paid three months’ salary as compensation.