VVS Laxman is set to become India’s head coach for the series in South Africa
VVS Laxman will serve as the head coach for India’s short white-ball tour of South Africa.
He is stepping in as the current national coach, Gautam Gambhir, will be headed to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
This decision was confirmed to Cricpulse by a senior official from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday.
The four-match series, which was not originally scheduled, has been recently arranged between the BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA).
India will play four Twenty20 Internationals in Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion, and Johannesburg on November 8, 10, 13, and 15, respectively, with the team set to depart around November 3.
The Indian squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will leave on November 10-11.
The coaching staff from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, including Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh, will support Laxman.
Bahutule will act as head coach, Kanitkar as batting coach, and Ghosh as fielding coach; all three recently participated in the Asia Emerging Cup tournament with the India Emerging side.
Sitanshu Kotak from Saurashtra and Mazhar Moidu from Kerala, both affiliated with the NCA, have joined the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India A team in Australia.
On October 25, the BCCI announced a 15-member squad, led by Surya Kumar Yadav, for the four T20Is.
There has been some criticism regarding the timing of the South Africa tour amidst India’s domestic season.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar expressed concerns in Sportstar, stating, “Next month, there’s a needless four-match T20 series in South Africa before the tour to Australia.
With the India ‘A’ team also touring Australia, about 50 to 60 players will be unavailable for their state teams in the premier national tournament, the Ranji Trophy.”
One potential benefit of the tour is its proximity to the IPL auction, as these four matches could highlight players who may be in high demand by franchises.
T20I squad:
| Player Name |
|---|
| Surya Kumar Yadav (C) |
| Abhishek Sharma |
| Sanju Samson (WK) |
| Rinku Singh |
| Tilak Varma |
| Jitesh Sharma (WK) |
| Hardik Pandya |
| Axar Patel |
| Ramandeep Singh |
| Varun Chakaravarthy |
| Ravi Bishnoi |
| Arshdeep Singh |
| Vijay Kumar Vyshak |
| Avesh Khan |
| Yash Dayal |
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