Laxman to oversee India’s Zimbabwe tour, Asian Games campaign

Centre of Excellence head V.V.S. Laxman, along with batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar and bowling coach Sunil Joshi, will form India’s support staff for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

The move is aimed at giving the senior national team’s support staff a short break following the white-ball series against England.

India will tour Zimbabwe for a three-match T20I series in Harare on July 23, 25 and 27. The tour begins just four days after the conclusion of the England series on July 19.

Laxman and his support staff will also oversee the Indian team at the Asian Games, which coincides with India’s home white-ball series against the West Indies, where head coach Gautam Gambhir will be with the ODI squad.

This is not the first time that Laxman will be in charge of a second-string Indian team. He has headlined the coaching staff in Zimbabwe in 2024 when Shubman Gill was the captain and Abhishek Sharma made his debut. He was also the head coach at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023 when Rahul Dravid was with the senior team for the ODI World Cup.