Chandika Hathurusingha, the former Bangladesh cricket head coach, has revealed harrowing details of his exit from Bangladesh, "fearing for his life" as he fled the country.
Hathurusingha was sacked in October last year by the Bangladesh Cricket Board after being suspended for allegedly assaulting a player during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Speaking to Code Sports last week, the 56-year-old denied the allegation, saying the false claim was "pre-meditated by the new President", which had ultimately "ruined his career".
Hathurusingha believes the incident in question could have actually been him tapping the player in question – Nasum Ahmed – on the shoulder to pass an instruction. "(Tapping players) happens all the time," he said. "Because of the language barriers, you do have to communicate a lot through hand signals".
"They've ruined my career"
There's been a very public spat between Hathurusingha and the BCB president Faruque Ahmed, ever since the latter took over the post. In his first press conference in August, Faruque had said Hathurusingha should "no longer continue as head coach", questioning his credibility and work ethic.
After being sacked, Hathurusingha had called the sequence of events a "premeditated attack", which he reiterated in the recent interview.
"It's everything because this is my career," Hathurusingha said. "Now they've ruined my career by bringing allegations rather than giving me an opportunity to defend myself.
"I have never had a fight with a player. I don't show emotion to my players. Maybe I've kicked a dustbin out of sight from frustration - that's happened to any coach. But that's very different to what this is. It's weighing on me. I don't know how many opportunities I've missed from October to now, there have been so many. This is just them trying to end my contract. It was pre-meditated by the new President."
Nic Pothas and Rangana Herath, Hathurusingha's assistant coaches at that time, have both supported him, stating that the allegations did not carry any weight.
"I was fearing for my life"
Hathurusingha expressed in detail how he was forced to flee the country without any protection, rushing to withdraw money and head to the airport.
"The Bangladesh CEO's last words to me was that his advice was I should go. 'You don't need to tell any of the board people, do you have a ticket to go?' This was a warning sign for me. That's when I got a little bit alarmed".
"Normally I get a driver and a gunman when travelling around in that country. He said, 'did you get your gunman and your driver today?' I said, no, 'I only had the driver'".
"I went straight to the bank, trying to get the money to leave the country. While I was in the bank there was a breaking news story on the TV; 'Chandika sacked. Assaulted a player," he added. "When that came up, the bank manager said, 'coach, I have to come with you. It is not safe for you if people see you on the roads.'"
Fear gripped him as he reached the airport, worried that the authorities might prevent him from flying.
"Now I'm panicking because I need to get out of the country. A friend drove me to the airport for a midnight flight on Singapore Airlines and I'm arriving in a cap and a hoodie and there's no protection," he said.
"They could have arrested me at the airport for trying to flee the country. There was a case where an interior minister from the previous Government was trying to flee the country and the plane was stopped on the runway and they kicked him off. All this is going through my mind. Then at the x-ray machine at the entrance, one of the air force officers said to me; 'I'm sorry coach, I'm very sorry that you're going'".
"I was fearing for my life and he's saying I had done something for their country".
Hathurusingha was immediately replaced by Phil Simmons as head coach, ending his second stint with Bangladesh Cricket. He had also coached them from 2014 to 2017.
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