Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) made it official yesterday that Chandika Hathurusingha had become their new head coach with a view to ending the island nation's crisis in international cricket.

On the other hand Jalal Yunus, director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), informed last night that the former Bangladesh coach would arrive in Dhaka today to settle all contractual obligations and explain the reasons behind his resignation.

The Sri Lankan resigned in October as Bangladesh coach after guiding the national team through their most successful period in his three years in charge, masterminding Test wins over England and Australia.

He takes over a side that was hammered in Tests by India in home and away series this year and has played poorly in one-day games.

SLC said Hathurusingha, 49, will take over the national side from December 20. That means he will take charge of the team for the T20 games that end their current tour in India.

The Sri Lanka post has been vacant since South African Graham Ford quit in June. Nic Pothas has been the interim coach.

Under Hathurusingha, Bangladesh made rapid strides in world cricket, reaching the semifinals of the Champions Trophy tournament in England this year. He was only criticised after Bangladesh's recent tour of South Africa, where the team failed to register a single win.

His contract with the BCB was supposed to run until the 2019 World Cup and reportedly made him one of the highest-paid cricket coaches, on $40,000 a month.

Hathurusingha, a batsman, played 26 Tests and 35 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka.