Exclusive: Jaffer resigns as Odisha coach; set to join Bangladesh Under-19 as HPC Director

Former India opener and legendary domestic cricketer Wasim Jaffer has resigned from his role as the head coach of the Odisha team despite being given a two-year contract in July 2021. Under Jaffer, Odisha failed to make any good impression in the last domestic season, losing two Ranji Trophy games by an innings margin in three games in total. 

Cricket.com understands that Jaffer has already sent his resignation letter to the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Sanjay Behera following the offer from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to work with the Bangladesh Under-19 players at the board's high-performance center in Dhaka. If the offer was the real reason behind Jaffer deciding to resign is true is not yet known. 

It is understood that former Odisha captain Rashmi Ranjan Parida, who was the head coach for two seasons before being an assistant to Jaffer, will be announced as the next Head Coach of the side in due course of time. Parida, a domestic veteran, has 8317 runs in 139 first-class games and helped Rajasthan win two championships as a professional player, and has the respect of all senior and junior players in the side.

With the OCA hosting the second T20I encounter between India and South Africa on Sunday, no association official was available for comment. 

The OCA is aligning its objective under Vision 2024, which includes the District Infrastructure Development Program under which the association plans to establish cricket academies in all 30 districts of the state, and thus they seem quite eager to restructure their coaching set-up. But this has come as a setback to the process.