In what has been termed as a ‘mutual separation’ by the Bangladesh Cricket Board chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, Steve Rhodes has officially been relieved of his duties as the country’s head coach with immediate effect. The 55-year-old was appointed last year in June, with a contract that was understood to last till the World T20 in 2020.
Despite finishing the World Cup at a disappointing eighth spot, Bangladesh did have a moderate campaign in terms of competitiveness and therefore, this development does come as a surprise. Quashing talks of an axing, Nizamuddin was quick to make it clear that the decision was taken amicably by both parties.
”It’s not like we are sacking him. We had a clause that stated that we can assess our respective positions after this World Cup though he had the contract until the next World Twenty20,” informed Nizamuddin in a media briefing on Monday (July 8).
”We can call it a mutual separation. We are implementing it from now onwards and that means he is not available with us from the tour of Sri Lanka.”
Rhodes stint has particularly been laced with ODI successes that include a bilateral series wins (both home and away) against West Indies, runners up in the Asia Cup and first ever multi-nation trophy in Ireland prior to the World Cup. With all this momentum, there were expectations of a possible semi-final berth but that wasn’t to be.
While Bangladesh continue to be a constantly improving ODI side that’s now capable of beating any side, their Test fortunes continue to be stagnant, especially away from home. It’s an area where Rhodes couldn’t do much either, although he does deserve credit for the enhancement of fortunes in white-ball cricket.
Bangladesh’s immediate assignment will be a three-match ODI series away against Sri Lanka that begins on July 26. The most important fixture will come in November when they travel to India for three T20Is and two ODIs.
