Bangladesh will be more tensed because of Chandika Hathurusingha’s presence in the dressing room of the Sri Lankan team, whom they take on in the upcoming tri-nation tournament and Test series in the next month. Not only that, Bangladesh’s next away assignment of the New Year will be in Sri Lankan soil also, prompting them taking the whole matter seriously more than ever, admitted Cricket Operations Chairman Akram Khan.

“The triangular series and Test series against Sri Lanka will be challenging obviously but we’ll be more tensed about Hathurusingha. He had been with us for a long time. He is aware of our strength and weakness. So it will be matter of tension,” Akram Khan said yesterday.

“Later we’ll play in Sri Lanka. That is also the matter of huge challenge. But we will be more serious than ever for those two series.”

Akram also termed the series as ‘prestige issue’, underlining the seriousness and their ‘upset state’ over the sudden resignation of Hathurusingha from the post of Bangladesh’s head coach. But he didn’t mention the word ‘upset’ rather he reasoned that the shocking result in the previous series against South Africa made their next assignment a ‘prestige issue’.

“We are very serious. The series is a prestige issue for us since we couldn’t do well in the last series, so it’s challenging too,” he remarked.

Whether the series is challenging or matter of ‘seriousness’ involved in it, Akram said the BCB would not appoint any head coach hurriedly. He informed that Khaled Mahmud Sujon will be with the team as ‘Technical Director’, that is something like Team Director. “The coaching staffs will remain same but since there is no head coach at the moment, we decided in the last board meeting to appoint Khaled Mahmud as the Technical Director of the team,” Akram said.

“He has been involved with the team as manager for quite long time now. He knows the team and the players very well.”

Whether Bangladesh could appoint a head coach before the series is still in dark but they are all but sure to appoint a batting consultant. Former South African batsman Neil McKenzie and former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming are in the race but the former could get the nod.

“A coach can’t change a team in 15 days so we are taking time to appoint a head coach. But it’s sure that we’ll appoint a batting coach before the series. I don’t know yet who will be the batting coach but all that I can say that we’ll know the name in this week,” he added.