Jaffer's appointment is a temporary one. © Getty

Wasim Jaffer and Champaka Ramanayake, who are currently working with the BCB High Performance Unit, have been appointed batting and bowling consultant for Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka. The board is still looking for a head coach and a support staff after Steve Rhodes's exit.

Neil McKenzie, the current batting consultant, hasn't renewed his contract and is not expected to be available for the tour. "We have some plans regarding filling the post of our coaches and it will depend on what type of coaches we are getting," BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan said on Monday (July 15).

"Champaka [Ramanayake] is also a very good bowling coach and we have him as our backup and now we will take him to this tour. Look, some of our coaches had requested for leave during the time of Sri Lanka tour as there was some problem regarding the tour [after the terrorist attack] and only was confirmed in the recent past. If McKenzie is unable to give us time [that is likely to be the case] then we will take Wasim Jaffer as the batting coach.

"They are not chosen as the replacement of McKenzie or Courtney Walsh. As per the contract with them, they are bound to take additional responsibilities."

Akram also added that they are contemplating the appointment of Khaled Mahmud as the head coach. "You all know there is a crisis about the head coach but we are trying to get one. We will take the service of Khaled Mahmud as our main coach but we are trying to get someone,'' Akram revealed. "Mario will check the fitness of the players on July 18 when the camp for the series will start. Ryan Cook will also join before the series."

Jaffer's inclusion doesn't come as a surprise as he was seen working with Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Mithun after a disappointing World Cup. He had also worked with Soumya Sarkar during the Dhaka Premier League to help him regain his form. "I think Jaffer just wanted to see how Tamim is going after a particular type of bowling. It is up to him whether he will take his advice or not because after playing international cricket for so long there is hardly anything new to add apart from just doing some fine tuning," Mahmud told Cricbuzz.

"He played with Mithun in Abahani and so he knows how he bats. In such cases [when someone is going through some lean patch] what is important is to remind him how he bats when he bats with an open mind,'' he said.

Mithun is set to replace Shakib al Hasan at number three as the latter has been granted leave by BCB to perform Hajj along with Liton Kumar Das, who is expected to get married on July 28. "Shakib is going to perform the 'Holy Hajj' so we are going to miss him. Liton will also miss the tour because of his marriage. That was fixed for a long time ago. We will miss these two players," said Akram.