The Bangladesh Cricket Board have appointed South African Russell Domingo as the head coach of the national team on a two-year contract.

Domingo will arrive in the country on 21 August to take charge of the team, the BCB said in a release on Saturday, 17 August. He takes over from Steve Rhodes, who had his tenure cut short after Bangladesh failed to reach the heights they expected in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

Domingo, 44, has no experience playing first-class cricket, but gained a reputation as a coach from an early age. He has been at the helm of South Africa's under 19 and senior teams, and was in charge when they reached the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 2014 and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2015. On the domestic front, he has coached South Africa's Warriors side, also coaching them in the Champions League T20.

Under Domingo, South Africa made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2015

"We have been very impressed with his passion and coaching philosophy," BCB president Nazmul Hassan said in a statement. "He has a clear idea of what is required to take the team forward.”

Domingo called his appointment a 'massive honour', expressing his eagerness to build a Bangladesh side that has been growing from strength to strength in white-ball cricket over the last few years. "It is a massive honour to be appointed the Head Coach of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team."

He said his focus would be on developing the next generation of players from the country. “I have followed Bangladesh’s progress with keen interest and I am extremely excited to assist the team in reaching the goals that they are capable of.

“I look forward to continuing the ongoing development of current players whilst also looking towards the future and developing some new bright stars from within the talent pool of Bangladesh cricket,” he said.

Bangladesh have called upon ex-New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori and former South Africa seamer Charl Langeveldt to work in their side's bowling department.



Plenty of experience there for the 🇧🇩players to soak up.https://t.co/bvaFrUCXed — ICC (@ICC) July 28, 2019

He will head a coaching team that includes batting coach Neil McKenzie and bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, both of whom were given a contract extension after the ODI series in Sri Lanka last month. Daniel Vettori has also been roped in as the spin bowling coach of the side.

Incidentally, both Langeveldt and McKenzie were part of Domingo's support staff during his time with the South African team between 2013 and 2017.



He is set to take over the role ahead of the Bangladesh's one-off Test against Afghanistan, which begins on 5 September in Chattogram. Right after that, Bangladesh will host Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in a T20I tri-series.