Dav Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to a World Cup victory in 1996 and to the semi-finals this year, said on Monday he would take charge of Bangladesh, Test cricket's worst-performing team.

Whatmore, 49, said he is looking forward to the challenge of leading Bangladesh, who have a woeful record since achieving Test status in 2000.

"It's a huge challenge and I've always loved a challenge," he said of the two-year position, which begins June 1.

"I feel they have more of a defeatist attitude than anything else. What we need to do is change that base attitude before anything else happens."

The Sri Lanka-born Australian replaces Sarwar Imran, who was appointed last month for an interim period after Pakistani Mohsin Kamal was sacked following Bangladesh's poor World Cup showing.

The team has not won a one-day match in four years and lost five group games out of six at the World Cup, including matches against non-Test sides Kenya and Canada. Their remaining game, against West Indies, ended in a draw because of rain.

"You will agree that there are some boys there who have got some real talent. But to bring that talent out on a consistent basis, and get supporting talent from other players, will take a little bit of time," Whatmore said.

Sri Lanka's cricket authorities have yet to find a replacement for Whatmore, who was sacked in March and will be released from his contract at the end of the month.

Duleep Mendis will act as interim coach for Sri Lanka in the series against New Zealand and Pakistan in April and May.

Whatmore said the biggest challenge for Sri Lanka, who he coached since 1999 after an earlier stint in 1995-96, is their performance on the road.

"It remains a bugbear for me that the team has not been able to perform outside of conditions in the sub-continent. They just haven't had the practice," he said.

He called their performance at the World Cup, "a strange mix of brilliant performances on the one hand and bitterly disappointing ones on the other," and singled out off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for special praise.

"He's been a player that will stop at nothing to get the best for the team...I rarely come across a true champion," he said.

"Champions are also the hardest people to manage," he added with a smile.