Dravid rested on New Zealand tour, Laxman to be India’s acting head coach

National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman will be the acting head coach of the Indian team for the upcoming tour of New Zealand as the Rahul Dravid-led coaching staff has been given a break after the T20 World Cup. The Indian team suffered a 10-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Thursday. India now have six white-ball matches in New Zealand, including three T20 Internationals and as many ODIs, starting November 18 in Wellington.

Senior players like regular captain Rohit Sharma, star batsman Virat Kohli, opener KL Rahul and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have been rested on the tour. Also, the coaching staff has also been given a break after the T20 World Cup. A BCCI (Cricket Board of India) source told PTI, “The NCA team led by Laxman will be associated with the team going to New Zealand which includes Hrishikesh Kanitkar (batting coach) and Sairaj Bahule (bowling coach). , 

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This is not the first time that Laxman has been given this responsibility in the Indian team. The former cricketer had last coached the team during tours of Zimbabwe and Ireland and the recent one-day home series against South Africa. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the team in the T20I series while veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead the ODI side. Regular captain Rohit will return for the Bangladesh tour.

Kohli and Ashwin will also return to the squad for the Bangladesh tour in which India will play three ODIs and two Test matches. The tour will start on December 4. Players who are not part of the New Zealand tour have started leaving after the team’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup. Kohli has left from Adelaide while Rahul and Rohit are also expected to leave soon. A lot of team players will travel from Sydney and Perth.