Rangana Herath, Ashwell Prince Appointed Bangladesh's Spin, Batting Consultants

Former Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been appointed the Bangladesh cricket team's spin-bowling consultant until the T20 World Cup, while South Africa's former left-handed middle-order batsman Ashwell Prince will be their batting consultant during the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.

The Bangladesh tour will commence with a one-off Test (July 7-11) followed by three ODIs, which are part of the World Cup Super League. The three-match T20I series will commence from July 23.

Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal and India's Sairaj Bahutule were also reportedly in the running for the spin bowling coach's job. The two coaches will fly straight to Zimbabwe to join the Bangladesh side.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cricket operations chairman, Akram Khan, said that both Herath and Prince could be considered for longer stints based on their performance during the Zimbabwe series.

"We discussed Ashwell Prince's appointment with coach Russell Domingo who rates him highly. He will be with us during the Zimbabwe tour, after which we will decide. Herath will be with us till the World Cup T20. If things go well, we will think about them as long-term options," Khan was quoted as saying.

Both Herath and Prince are on their maiden international assignments. Herath, who retired from international cricket in 2018, will replace former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori, whose contract expired in April this year.

Earlier this month, the BCB had expressed its desperation to fill up the two coaching slots with Khan saying that Bangladesh needed to quickly appoint the coaches given the busy international schedule of the national team, which will leave for Zimbabwe on June 29.

"It is difficult to find a coach during the Covid period but we will try to sign a coach before touring Zimbabwe as Australia will arrive right after the Zimbabwe series," Khan was quoted as saying earlier this month.