According to reports, VVS Laxman, chief of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), will serve as the interim head coach for the Indian cricket team, replacing Gautam Gambhir for their upcoming T20I tour to South Africa.
India is set to play four T20Is against South Africa on November 8, 10, 13, and 15, with the team departing on November 4. Meanwhile, the squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) will leave on November 10-11, with the first match scheduled for November 22 in Perth.
The South Africa tour was arranged recently and was not part of the initial plan, as Gambhir will be occupied with the BGT team. Alongside Laxman, NCA coaches Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kantikar, and Subhadeep Ghosh will join the support staff for the tour to South Africa.
Bahutule (head coach), Kantikar (batting), and Ghosh (fielding) were recently part of the support team for India A in the Asia Emerging Cup in Oman, where they reached the semifinals but lost to Afghanistan A, the eventual champions.
Laxman has previously served as interim coach for India on multiple occasions, stepping in for Rahul Dravid. Under his leadership, India achieved a 4-1 victory against Zimbabwe in T20Is. He has also led the team during two tours to Ireland.
India’s T20I squad for South Africa tour: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
India vs South Africa T20I Schedule
1st T20I – November 8 – Kingsmead, Durban
2nd T20I – November 10 – St George’s Park, Gqeberha
3rd T20I – November 13 – SuperSport Park, Centurion
4th T20I – November 15 – The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Gavaskar raises doubts about the necessity of the South Africa series
Meanwhile, cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the scheduling of the series. He criticized the BCCI for not prioritizing the Ranji Trophy, India’s top domestic competition.
“Next month, there’s an unnecessary four-match T20 series in South Africa before the tour to Australia. Additionally, an ‘A’ team will also be touring Australia, meaning around 50 to 60 players will be unavailable for their State teams in the Ranji Trophy.”
”No other major cricketing nation treats its national tournament as casually as India does,” Gavaskar stated in his column for Sportstar.
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