BCCI to appoint VVS Laxman as Head Coach for Zimbabwe tour

Indian cricket team will see a new head coach for their upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, as Rahul Dravid’s successor, Gautam Gambhir, will not be accompanying the squad. Gambhir is set to assume the head coach role after Dravid retires following the T20 World Cup 2024. 

However, he has announced that he will not reapply for the position and will not travel to Zimbabwe for the five-match T20I series starting on July 6.

Instead, Gambhir will join the team for their six-match series in Sri Lanka, consisting of three one-day and three T20 matches, scheduled to begin on July 27. An official announcement on this matter is still pending.

According to a report by PTI, National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman will step in as head coach for the Zimbabwe tour.

Laxman, along with his NCA staff, will finalize the Indian squad for the series, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to reveal later this week. 

The squad will feature top performers from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, with either Suryakumar Yadav or Hardik Pandya likely to lead the team.

The BCCI has stated that Laxman and the NCA team have consistently stepped in whenever Dravid and his coaching staff have taken breaks. 

"There is a possibility that Laxman, along with some of the NCA coaches, will travel with the new-look squad to Zimbabwe. Laxman and the NCA team have always filled in whenever Rahul Dravid and the first team coaches have taken periodic breaks during their stint," a BCCI source told PTI.