The opportunity to coach your own country is always a big thing: Heath Streak

Zimbabwe Cricket Team coach Heath Streak believes that Chandika Hathurusingha did the right thing by becoming Sri Lanka’s head coach. He shared the dressing room with Hathurusingha during his stint as the pace bowling coach of Bangladesh. Streak was appointed by the BCB in May 2014, around a month after Hathurusingha joined as the Tigers’ coach.

It’s always a special feeling to coach your country’s players and the Zimbabwe head coach believes that the former Bangladesh coach has done the best thing in his own rights. The two former counterparts, Streak and Hathurusingha, are currently touring Bangladesh for the tri-nation ODI series, scheduled to start Monday.

The opportunity to coach your own country is always a big thing

Hathurusingha decided to give up as the coach of the Bangladesh side following a disastrous tour to South Africa where the ‘Tigers’ lost all seven games across different formats. “The opportunity to coach your own country is always a big thing. I am sure if it was a Bangladeshi coach in another country and he was offered the opportunity to coach his country he’d have done it,” said Streak during Zimbabwe’s arrival press conference at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday.

“Most people would find it hard to turn down the opportunity. I think Hathurusingha did a really good job for Bangladesh; people mustn’t forget the successes they have had under him. Whilst he did sign a three-year contract, I think it is also difficult when you don’t (have your family close). He lives in Australia and his family is there. Coaching is difficult when you are away from your family for extended periods of time. Country is always a prestigious thing to coach; everyone aspires to coach their own country,” Streak explained.

Hathurusingha was appointed as the Sri Lankan head coach in December 2017. He is touring Bangladesh for the first time since his resignation. The tri-series will be followed by two Test matches and as many T20Is between the Tigers and the Lankans.

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