SL vs BAN 2025: Phil Simmons leaves Sri Lanka tour midway for medical reasons

Bangladesh head coach, Phil Simmons, who had travelled along the side on their ongoing tour to Sri Lanka, will be heading to the United Kingdom for a brief bit. He will be travelling to consult doctors in London over his medical condition and is expected to be back to the island nation on July 7.

Prior to the official announcement, there were speculations that Simmons had been asked to meet the President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Aminul Islam, for a performance review of the coaching set-up. However, that did not turn out to be the case. According to the team officials, Simmons had communicated regarding his travel well in advance to the management, which had been approved, given he returns in three days' time.

"Phil Simmons is going to tour for two days for personal reasons. He had a doctor's appointment in February, but he missed that due to the Champions Trophy. Now, the appointment with the physicians cannot be changed. He tried to change it, but somehow he could not do that. Before the start of the tour, he spoke with the board in this regard and planned accordingly. He is leaving today and will return on 7th July,"  stated Nafees Iqbal, the team's manager on the tour, as quoted by Cricbuzz.  

Bangladesh ended up going down in the second Test of the recently-concluded two-match series after fighting valiantly for a draw in the series opener. A dramatic batting meltdown which saw the visitors lose seven wickets for five runs during the first ODI of the series meant they trail the three-match ODI series after going down by 77 runs.

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They will take on Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday, July 5. The match is slated to commence at 2:30 pm (IST). The two sides will compete in a three-match T20I series after the conclusion of the 50-over format to wrap up the all-format assignment. The Mehidy Hasan Miraz-led unit will be keen on making a comeback into the ongoing 50-over series, before the action moves on to 20-over games.