Dhaka – Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is happy with the presentation of Russell Domingo as a candidate of the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team. The 44-year-old South African arrived in Dhaka Wednesday morning to face BCB as one of the three shortlisted candidates and will leave Bangladesh on Thursday.
He was the head coach of his country from 2013 to 2017. South Africa played semifinals of the 2014 T20 World Cup under his coaching.
“We have a shortlist of three candidates who are interested in coaching the Bangladesh national team. Russell is one of them, and we’ve talked to him today (Wednesday). His presentation was satisfactory,” Jalal Younus, the chairman of the Media and Communication Committee of BCB, told reporters at Beximco Pharmaceuticals office at Dhanmondi where the meeting was held in the evening.
“He (Domingo) is a professional coach. His presentation about Bangladesh’s future in cricket, how Bangladesh can produce better results and more was really good. He worked for a long time in South Africa. He is qualified to coach Bangladesh. But we still have two candidates. We’ll take their interviews as well. After that, we’ll come to a final call,” Jalal further said.
He also said BCB is trying hard to appoint the head coach of the national team before the home series against Afghanistan. It is up to conduct meetings with the other two candidates before Eid-ul-Adza.
Jalal refused to reveal the names of the two other candidates. But he said they have the experience of coaching international sides.
Domingo never played professional cricket. The Port Elizabeth-born coach gained his coaching qualification when he was just 22. At the age of 25, he was hired as a youth coach for Eastern Province.
During the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2004 Bangladesh, he was appointed as the coach of South Africa U-19 team. After that, his biggest success was for the domestic cricket club- Warriors franchise.
He led them in the victory of domestic one-day and Twenty20 competitions during the 2009-10 season. He was the coach of the Warriors in the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 and 2011.
After that, he got the job of coaching South Africa A team. In 2013, he got his dream job of coaching South Africa national team after the resignation of Gary Kirsten.
BCB is searching for a coach after they parted ways with Steve Rhodes. The Englishman was the coach of Bangladesh during the World Cup 2019 in England and Wales, where Bangladesh failed to live up to the expectations. The failure in the World Cup might have prompted BCB to end their contract with Rhodes prematurely and find a new coach.UNB
