Bangladesh Cricket Board is willing to keep batting consultant Thilan Samaraweera till the 2017 Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in June, 2017 in England. The former Sri Lankan batsman was appointed earlier in September this year only for the Afghanistan and England series. However, BCB president Nazmul Hasan hinted that his contract could be extended.

According to Akram Khan, the chairman of the BCB’s cricket operations committee, the contract is yet to get the official confirmation. With that said, he informed that the board is willing to extend his contract till the Champions Trophy.

“It is yet to get the official confirmation. However, the board is willing to extend Thilan Samaraweera’s contract as the batting consultant of the national cricket team until the Champions Trophy next year. Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and the team management wanted Samaraweera to continue and he also had no objection to it,” Akram told Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday.

The 40-year old, who scored 5462 runs in 81 Tests, including 14 hundreds at an average of 48.76, started his assignment from the Afghanistan series, followed by the three-match ODI series and the two Test matches against England where Bangladesh registered a historic 108-run win.

Samaraweera, who is expected to fly to Melbourne on Wednesday to spend time with his family, is likely to join the Tigers when they travel to Australia for a preparation camp ahead of their tour of New Zealand, slated for next month.

“I am yet to receive any official proposal from the board but we had a fruitful discussion. It’s a huge honour to work with an international team and there is no reason to deny if the BCB officially offers me to continue,” Samaraweera told Dhaka Tribune.