Mahela, Atapattu among shortlist to become BCB HP Unit coach

Former Sri Lankan captains Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu are leading contenders to become the coach of the BCB High Performance (HP) Unit, which is going to resume next month.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) vice-president Mahbubul Anam, who is also in charge of the HP Unit, informed that they have made a shortlist of three high profile names, and one of them could come Bangladesh to coach the HP Unit cricketers.

“We have formed a three-man shortlist. Nothing has been finalized yet, but we are working on it, and hopefully we will reveal the name within a few days’ time,” said Anam.

As per the words doing the rounds, India’s Robin Singh is also on the list. However, though it was earlier heard that Kumar Sangakkara was also amongst the three-shortlisted names, now it is understood that he is not among the BCB shortlist.

Meanwhile, Anam also added that Bangladesh national team’s head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe will take the final decision as to who would become the new HP Unit coach. Even it is also up to him whether or not a number of discarded national cricketers would be called up to join the HP Unit camp.

According to the BCB high-up, the scheduled date for this year’s HP Unit camp to begin is July 10, which means after the Eid. However he also confirmed that a fitness camp would take place during the month of Ramadan.

Eight cricketers with suspect bowling action found in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL) will be eligible to be part of the four-month camp while the size of the squad is yet to be decided.