KATHMANDU, JULY 20
Nepal national cricket team head coach Pubudu Dassanayake today resigned from the post citing personal reasons six months after assuming charge of the team for the second time.
Dassanayake's announcement came as a surprise to many but he had submitted the resignation to the Cricket Association of Nepal before the national team's Scotland tour for the One Day International Tri-series under the ICC Cricket World Cup League-II. Cricket Canada later announced Dassanayake as head coach.
The Sri Lanka-born Canadian, who took over the national team in January, was under pressure after a series of poor performances from the team.
"This is the most difficult decision of my life as I usually do not leave anything incomplete.
I have never failed in my target in my previous jobs, but I am really sad that I could not achieve what I wanted this time around," said Dassanayake at a press meet.
Under Dassanayake, Nepal won just four of the 14 ODIs.
Nepal are currently at the sixth position in the seven-team table and they still have 16 ODIs to play under the cycle. Top three teams will earn berths in the 50-over World Cup Qualifiers, while others will go into playoffs. Under Dassanayake, Nepal won 10 T20I matches and lost three.
Dassanayake - regarded as the most successful coach in Nepali cricket after the Sri Lanka-born Canadian led the national team to the maiden Twenty20 World Cup apart from taking Nepal to World Cricket League Division-II in his first stint from 2011-2016 - failed to meet the expectations in his second innings.
Dassanayake faced a series of problems, on and off the field, in his second stint as head coach in Nepal. He came to Nepal in January to take over a team that was already divided into many groups, especially after the CAN took disciplinary action against the then skipper Gyanendra Malla and his deputy Dipendra Singh Airee, along with bowlers Sompal Kami and Kamal Singh Airee. A number of players were tilted towards the four cricketers and had refused to join the national team camp.
After a series of meetings and discussions with various stakeholders, Dassanayake and CAN were able to bring back the players into the squad but they could never restore unity among cricketers under new skipper Sandeep Lamichhane.
"There was a reason for CAN to appoint me as a head coach and together with the board we have done a lot of hard work to unite the team for good," said Dassanayake, who tried various team combinations in different matches.
Dassanayake requested the CAN and fans to support the team and give players some time to make a strong comeback.
"The criticism from fans of the team's poor performance is obvious. Supporters and media might not know a lot of things that we did to make this team a strong one. CAN's role in the process is praiseworthy and I appeal to all stakeholders to support the team and skipper Sandeep Lamichhane," he added. "I am sure the Nepal team will be one of the best in associate cricket," he added.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 21, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
