A major update to Cricbuzz: from the end of the BCCI, VVS Laxman, the current head of the National Cricket Academy of India, is all set to take over as India’s head coach for the upcoming tour to South Africa.
Gautam Gambhir, India’s full-time head coach across all limited-overs and the longest format of the game, will be in an expedition with the forefront Indian team that will be playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
VVS Laxman previously held such a role even under the reign of Rahul Dravid, as he took guard of the national side every time Dravid was unavailable for the side.
Alongside Gambhir, his part of the coaching staff, assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar, Ryan Ten Doeschate, and Morne Morkel will be seen with the Indian team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Hence, as a result of this, the other coaches who are part of the NCA alongside Laxman. Likes of Sairaj Bahutule, Subhadeep Ghosh, and Hrishikesh Kanitkar who were a part of the Emerging Asia Cup will be seen as supporting staff for India under Laxman for the tour to South Africa.
India has now announced their 15-member squad for the South Africa tour
Due to playing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, several players will miss out on the probable tour to South Africa for the shortest format of the game. Likes of experienced campaigners like Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal are missing out due to the clash between the series.
Also, youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal, NK Reddy, and Harshit Rana have been included in the squad for the BGT, hence changing the lineup for the impending South Africa T20I tour. Alongside the newly named pacers on the side, also Ramandeep Singh gets his major call due to the absence of both Shivam Dube and also Riyan Parag due to supposed injuries.
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.