Former England wicketkeeper-batsman Steve Rhodes has been named as the new head coach of Bangladesh, ending an over half a year’s search of coach following the departure of Chandika Hathurusingha.

A long list of personnel were listed down by the BCB – which included the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena – but after not being able to successfully pouch them, they have finally tied up Rhodes as the new coach after a recommendation from Gary Kirsten.

Meanwhile, Nazmul Hassan Papon confirmed the news to the press.

‘We spoke about a lot of positions. We spoke about the head coach, batting advisor, bowling coach, fielding specialist, director of coaches or consultants and so on. Putting everything into context, we were hoping to sign at least the head coach before the West Indies tour – and today I can confirm that Steve Rhodes is our new head coach.

‘He was in our and Gary Kirsten’s top-list. We spoke to him [Rhodes] in person today and we are satisfied with him and he has agreed to coach [the Bangladesh cricket team]. So I am pleased to announce that from now on, Steve Rhodes is the head coach of Bangladesh.’

When asked about how long his contract runs, Nazmul Hassan added that he has been tied down ‘until the T20I World Cup [in 2020].’

Steve Rhodes was the coach of Worcestershire for a year between 2005 and 2006, after which he served as the Director of Cricket till 2017. He played 11 Tests and 7 ODIs for England and has a reputation of being headstrong.