The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday decided to part ways with their national cricket team's head coach Steve Rhodes, who led the team in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The news comes after Bangladesh's poor journey in the World Cup 2019 tournament, where the Mashrafe Mortaza-led team ended on the eight positions on the points table with seven points. The decision was taken with mutual consent of BCB and Steve Rhodes during a meeting in London after Bangladesh’s last match against Pakistan in CWC 2019. Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza Takes Blame For 'Disappointing' 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Roads, who joined the Bangladesh team as coach in 2018, was on a two-year contract. His contract was going to expire next year, however, it was terminated now itself. "The Board had a review following the Pakistan match (Bangladesh's last at the World Cup) in a meeting in London. There it was decided that the BCB and Steve Rhodes will not continue on their agreement. The separation was by mutual consent," Bangladesh CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury was quoted by ANI as saying. Pakistan vs Bangladesh Stat Highlights, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match: Shaheen Afridi, Imam ul Haq Shine As PAK Register Consolation Win.
Chowdhury also informed that the board has not yet decided about the new coach for the upcoming Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka, slated to start from July 26, 2019. The Asian team showed an unimpressive performance in World Cup 2019, winning only three matches out of nine clashes against South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan. Although all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was able to keep team’s morale high with his tally of 606 runs in the tournament, the team failed to showcase their strength by losing most of their matches.
Rhodes, a former England cricketer, was appointed as head coach of Bangladesh on June 7, 2019. After his appointed, The Bengal Tigers lost Test series against West Indies 2-0, however, the Asian team bounced back and won the ODI (2-1) and T20 series (2-1). It was Bangladesh's first ODI series win on West Indian soil. In a tri-series including Bangladesh, Ireland and West Indies, the former emerged champion after beating the Caribbean side by 5 wickets. Bangladesh also reached the finals of Asia Cup 2018 under Rhodes, where they were defeated by India in the finals in a nail-biting encounter.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2019 09:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).