Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has firmly dismissed suggestions of disorder within the team’s setup following the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision to remove Mohammad Ashraful from his role as batting coach in the week leading up to the two-Test home series against West Indies. The BCB announced on Saturday that Ashraful had been reassigned and that Mohammad Salahuddin would step in to fill the batting coach position on a temporary basis.
The coaching change came against a backdrop of mixed results for Bangladesh in the UAE earlier in October 2026. The team drew the one-off Test against Afghanistan and then returned from the ODI tri-series without a win, losing both their matches against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Many observers linked Ashraful’s removal to those performances, viewing it as a reactive decision by the board. There are also reports that the BCB is close to finalising a permanent batting coach appointment ahead of the upcoming tour of South Africa, though the identity and timing of that appointment remain unconfirmed. Simmons, speaking ahead of the series, was direct when asked about the situation.
“Is this the first time there’s chaos before a match? Every series is important. Those that we played earlier in the year were important too. But the thing is how we go about our preparation for the series. I think that the group that was here have been excellent in the last three or four days. They’ve been doing their work and now the whole team joins together. It’s what we do over the next two days, it’s not what’s happening outside, it’s what we do as a team to prepare,” Simmons said, as quoted by Cricinfo.
What does the West Indies series mean for Bangladesh’s WTC ambitions?
Bangladesh currently sit fourth in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 standings with a point percentage of 55.56, and Simmons has underlined how significant the two-match home series against West Indies is to the team’s bid to reach the WTC final for the first time. The first Test begins on October 28 in Mirpur, with the squad having spent several days in focused preparation. Simmons pointed to the concentration he observed in the group during the build-up, drawing a parallel with the mood before the drawn Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
“I think everyone is very focused on the Test match. The same in the Test match in Abu Dhabi, I think everyone was focused on the Test match and what’s in front of them. I think there’s that goal and that desire to play in the World Test Championship and this is the first time we’ve had that opportunity to be there. So I think everyone is going to be up and ready for the Test matches,” he said.
Bangladesh also completed a historic Test win in Australia in Darwin in September 2026, a result that has added to the team’s confidence heading into this home assignment.
How did Simmons defend Bangladesh’s batting in the Afghanistan Test?
The drawn Test against Afghanistan attracted considerable criticism, with questions raised about whether Bangladesh’s batters were proactive enough in pressing for a result. Simmons rejected that characterisation, insisting the players followed the team management’s instructions and that the outcome was shaped by conditions and missed opportunities in the field rather than a failure of intent.
“I don’t think it was a case where they didn’t respond to the match situation. I think that they played it exactly how we wanted to play it. The wicket got better than we thought it would. So on the last day, it was a lot better than we thought it would be on the last day,” Simmons said.
Simmons also noted that he was pleased to be involved in consecutive West Indies tours of Bangladesh. He was the West Indies head coach when they won the Test series 2-0 in 2021, a tour that featured Kyle Mayers’ unbeaten 210 in a fourth-innings chase in Chattogram. He said he hoped to be on the winning side again, this time in the Bangladesh dugout.
