DHAKA, June 23, 2026 (BSS)—Former Bangladesh opener Hannan Sarkar has been appointed head coach of the Bangladesh Under-19 team, as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) unveiled a largely local coaching setup for its youth programme.

Hannan, who served on the BCB's junior selection panel during Bangladesh's victorious 2020 ICC Under-19 World Cup campaign, previously worked as a national team selector before moving into coaching.

The former opener enjoyed success in domestic cricket, guiding Abahani Limited to the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) title and leading Rajshahi Warriors to a Bangladesh Premier League championship. He most recently served as head coach of the Bangladesh Under-17 team.

Five of the six members of the new Under-19 coaching staff are local coaches. Former Bangladesh pacer Dollar Mahmud has been retained as pace bowling coach, while Mohammad Selim will continue as fielding coach. Both were part of the previous Under-19 coaching setup.

The appointments were announced at a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday.

The BCB also confirmed that veteran Bangladesh cricketer Mahmudullah has been appointed mentor for various age-group teams, the High Performance (HP) programme and the national youth setup. Former national opener Imrul Kayes will accompany the Emerging and HP teams as a mentor during their upcoming tour of Australia.

Speaking to reporters after his appointment, Hannan said his priority would be to develop future national team players while maintaining competitive results at the youth level.

"We want to achieve good results, but our main objective is to produce cricketers capable of progressing to higher levels," he said.

Meanwhile, the BCB announced the launch of an analytics laboratory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Initially operating from an indoor facility in Mirpur, the lab will maintain a comprehensive video database tracking player’s performances from the Under-14 level through to the national team.

The initiative is expected to strengthen player development, performance analysis and talent identification across Bangladesh's cricket pathway.