Former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha revealed on Sunday that he feared for his life while fleeing the country. Bangladesh was undergoing political turmoil at the time, with the country at a standstill due to the student movement. Hathurusingha decided to leave in a state of panic, citing a lack of security.

Hathurusingha left the country after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) suspended him for breaching their code of conduct. Later, the BCB sacked him, despite Hathurusingha`s dismissal of the allegations. In an interview with Australian sports media outlet Code Sports, he shared his side of the story, as reported by Indian cricket news portal Cricbuzz.

"The Bangladesh CEO`s last words to me were that his advice was for me to go. He said, `You don`t need to tell any of the board people, do you have a ticket to go?` This was a warning sign for me. That`s when I got a little alarmed," Hathurusingha said.

"Normally, I get a driver and a gunman when traveling around in that country. He asked, `Did you get your gunman and your driver today?` I said, `No, I only had the driver,`" he recalled.

"I went straight to the bank, trying to get the money to leave the country. While I was in the bank, there was breaking news on the TV: `Chandika sacked. Assaulted a player.` When that came up, the bank manager said, `Coach, I have to come with you. It`s not safe for you if people see you on the roads.`"

"Now I`m panicking because I need to get out of the country. A friend drove me to the airport for a midnight flight on Singapore Airlines. I arrived in a cap and a hoodie, with no protection," he added.

"They could have arrested me at the airport for trying to flee the country. There was a case where an interior minister from the previous government tried to flee the country, and the plane was stopped on the runway, and they kicked him off. All this was going through my mind. Then, at the x-ray machine at the entrance, one of the air force officers said to me, `I`m sorry, Coach, I`m very sorry that you`re going.` I was fearing for my life, and he`s saying I had done something for their country," Hathurusingha said emotionally.

However, the claim made by Hathurusingha that a home minister was kicked off a plane on the runway while trying to flee the country is not true.

Hathurusingha vehemently denied slapping bowler Nasum Ahmed in the dugout during Bangladesh`s World Cup clash against New Zealand in Chennai. According to the Sri Lankan coach, his best guess at what the allegation was based on was him tapping Nasum on the back while sitting behind him in the dugout to get his attention to hand gloves to the batters on the field.

While Hathurusingha was never asked by the BCB for his version of events, Nasum has refused to publicly comment on the issue. "It`s everything because this is my career. Now they`ve ruined my career by bringing allegations rather than giving me an opportunity to defend myself," Hathurusingha said.

"I have never had a fight with a player. I don`t show emotion to my players. Maybe I`ve kicked a dustbin out of sight from frustration— that`s happened to any coach. But that`s very different from this. It`s weighing on me. I don`t know how many opportunities I`ve missed from October to now; there have been so many. This is just them trying to end my contract. It was pre-meditated by the new president."

Nic Pothas, former South African cricketer and Hathurusingha`s assistant coach at the time, said that nothing of that sort happened. "That`s just me knowing the person. He`s a highly experienced international and professional coach. He wouldn`t have lasted at that level if he had that in him," Pothas was quoted by the website.

"I think there`s probably a grudge to bear from whoever alleged that. And the person who made the allegation probably didn`t think it would blow up like this. Now that it has, I don`t think they realized the chaos they`ve caused and how difficult they`ve made Hathu`s life post-Bangladesh."

"(Tapping players on the back) happens all the time. Because of the language barriers, you do have to communicate a lot through hand signals."

Rangana Herath, one of Hathurusingha`s assistants at the time, is equally adamant that the alleged assault was fabricated. "I can straight away say that nothing happened," Herath said from his home in Melbourne. "Being a World Cup, there were many cameras on him. People can say an incident happened, but there has to be evidence. I strongly say nothing happened like that because I was there. Slapping and tapping are completely different."