Former Team India cricketer VVS Laxman is likely to be the head coach of the national cricket team during the upcoming white-ball tour of South Africa. VVS Laxman will replace current national coach Gautam Gambhir who is heading to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series.

The Indian national cricket team will take on South Africa in four T20Is from November 8 to 18. They will play matches in Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion and Johannesburg respectively. The team will leave for South Africa around November 4, while the Test team will leave for Australia from November 10-11.

VVS Laxman to lead Team India coaching staff in South Africa

According to a Cricbuzz report, a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official confirmed that the four-match T20I series against South Africa was not part of the initial schedule. VVS Laxman will lead the coaching staff including Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh.

VVS Laxman took up the role of head coach of the Indian cricket team during Rahul Dravid’s time as coach. Notably, he was in charge during India’s tour of Zimbabwe where the Shubman Gill-led team claimed a 4-1 series victory. Gautam was appointed head coach after the tour of Zimbabwe.

Laxman’s assistants at the National Cricket Academy, Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh, recently coached the emerging Indian team in the Emerging Asia Cup in Oman. Sitanshu Kotak and Mazhar Moidu are with the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India A team on their tour of Australia.

There is an unnecessary four-match T20I series – Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar criticized the BCCI for planning a four-match T20I series in South Africa during the Ranji Trophy season. In his column for SportStar, the former cricketer said the T20I series is unnecessary, especially with an India A team also touring Australia.

“Next month, there will be an unnecessary four-match T20 series in South Africa before the tour to Australia. There will also be an ‘A’ team touring Australia next month, so effectively 50-60 players will be out. available for their state teams. in the premier domestic tournament, the Ranji Trophy,” the former India captain wrote in Sportstar.

The BCCI announced a 15-member squad led by Suryakumar Yadav for the four T20Is on October 25. A positive aspect of this tour is that it comes before the IPL auction, giving franchises a chance to assess which players could be in high demand based on their performance in the upcoming matches.

India squad for T20I series against South Africa:

Suryakumar 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, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan , Yash Dayal.

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