Published: Jan 21, 2020, 10:16 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 21, 2020, 10:16 PM (IST)
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to appoint former South Africa head coach Ottis Gibson as their next bowling coach, a BCB official was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz on Tuesday (January 21).
The post of a bowling coach was vacant since the departure of former South African pace bowler Charl Langeveldt as per the request of the Cricket South Africa (CSA), on account of including him in Proteas’ newly appointed national set-up, headed by Mark Boucher.
Gibson will begin his assignment with the team immediately for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan, scheduled from January 24th to 27th, 2020 in Lahore. The Bangladesh T20I squad led by Mahmudullah will leave Dhaka on Wednesday (22nd January) by a chartered Bangladesh airplane to complete the first part of the three-phase tour of Pakistan comprising three T20Is along with two Test matches and a solitary ODI, over the course of four calendar months.
Gibson, who was with Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Cumilla Warriors, was in negotiations with the BCB after he was approached as a probable candidate to fill the shoes of Charl Langeveldt.
Gibson revealed at a press event that he was waiting for a reply from the BCB after an elaborate conversation with the board members about the role of bowling coach. He is yet to officially sign as the bowling coach, there has been a verbal commitment between the two parties.
According to BCB sources, Gibson is expected arrive at Dhaka within a day or two for having in order to complete the formalities.
BCB had earlier announced that their high-performance coach Champaka Ramanayake will be part of team management as pace bowling coach during the tour of Pakistan. However, the BCB officials have insisted that as Gibson is the first-choice candidate for the role.
“We have verbally reached an agreement and only the formalities remain. Once that is done, he will be available to join the Bangladesh national team in Lahore,” a BCB official confirmed on Tuesday.
