Pothas in charge of Bangladesh for second SL Test as Hathurusinghe goes on leave

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe will miss the second and final Test against Sri Lanka, starting in Chattogram on Saturday. On the development, the BCB has only said that Hathurusinghe would be travelling back home to Australia because of "personal reasons". No return date has been confirmed.

Assistant coach Nic Pothas will take charge for the duration of the match.

Bangladesh reached Chattogram from Sylhet after the first Test ended in a 328-run defeat for them on the fourth afternoon. Prior to the Test, Bangladesh won the ODI series while Sri Lanka won the T20I series by identical 2-1 margins.

Shakib Al Hasan, who hasn't played a Test match since April 2023 and has been treated for an eye condition recently has been brought into the Test squad as a replacement for Towhid Hridoy. The uncapped Hridoy was a part of the squad for the first Test but didn't get into the XI. In one more change, Hasan Mahmud has come in for the injured Musfik Hasan, who has a left ankle injury and will require rehab. Mahmud is also uncapped in Tests, like Musfik, but has played 39 white-ball internationals.

Hathurusinghe took up the Bangladesh job for a second time in February last year. Between the two stints with Bangladesh - the first one had run from June 2014 to October 2017 - he had been in charge of the Sri Lanka team and had also served as the batting coach at New South Wales in the Australian domestic circuit.

Pothas joined Bangladesh in April last year. The 49-year-old Pothas has previously worked as interim head coach for West Indies and Sri Lanka.