The busy international calendar of the Indian cricket team is once again going to cause division in the coaching staff. VVS Laxman, head of BCCI’s Center of Excellence, will take over the role of head coach of the Indian team for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour and Asian Games.
In fact, the schedule of the Asian Games is overlapping with the opening leg of the upcoming series against West Indies on India’s home soil. In such a situation, regular head coach Gautam Gambhir will remain in India with the senior national team, while Laxman will fly to Zimbabwe and Japan with two different squads. Let us tell you that this time the Asian Games is to be played in Japan.
Sunil Joshi and Hrishikesh Kanitkar will be part of the support staff
VVS Laxman will have a familiar and experienced support staff throughout his Zimbabwe tour and Asian Games campaign. Former Indian batsman Hrishikesh Kanitkar will take over as the batting coach of the team, while former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi has been included as the bowling coach. This entire coaching group will work to maintain continuity with Team India on both the tours.
Nothing new for BCCI
This arrangement is not at all new for BCCI. Whenever the Indian team has a very busy schedule and two series come at the same time, the Board always relies on the experienced coaches of the Center of Excellence. Laxman has previously played the role of head coach on several foreign tours when the senior coaching staff was busy with the main team. Before him, previous heads of the National Cricket Academy had also held similar roles during scheduling clashes. This latest decision reflects the huge demand for Indian team’s increasing bilateral tours and multi-sports events in modern cricket.