Bangladesh appoints Ottis Gibson as bowling coach

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has appointed the former head coach of West Indies, Ottis Gibson, as the bowling coach of the team as the team gets ready to leave for Pakistan for a three-match T20I series in Lahore.

The new bowling coach has signed a two-year contract with the Bangladesh side and will replace the former South African pacer Charles Langeveldt, who resigned from the position in December, last year. Gibson will be resuming the coaching duties from the upcoming series against the Men in Green, starting from January 24.

The board is quite happy with Gibson on-board for the series and believes that his experience will help the Bangla Tigers in the future. CEO of the governing body, Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, expressed his gratitude towards Gibson and noted that he will be a valuable addition to the team.

“He brings in tremendous experience and has coached or played all over the world. He has also had the opportunity to observe Bangladesh cricket from close. I am sure he will be a very valuable addition to the Bangladesh Team’s coaching group,” Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said of the appointment.

The West Indian bowler is no stranger to Bangladesh conditions and players as he was associated with one of the sides, Cumilla Warriors, in the recently concluded season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). It was reported back then that he was in talks with the board to take the desired position.

Langeveldt had to vacant the post after Cricket South Africa (CSA) called him back for the coaching duties in the new management.  

Veteran Tamim Iqbal is making a comeback into the team for the series while Rubel Hossain has been included for the T20I series. Hossain, if included in the playing XI, will be playing his first T20 International game since 2018. He played his last game against West Indies in August 2018 in Florida.

The first game will be played on January 24 while the second and third games will be held on January 25 and 27 respectively.

Bangladesh Squad: Mahmudullah (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Moammad Naim, Najmul Hossain, Litton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud