VVS Laxman to take over as head coach of Team India for 2026 Asian Games in Gautam Gambhir’s absence

VVS Laxman to travel with India for the Asian Games Former India batsman and Director of Cricket at BCCI’s Center of Excellence VVS Laxman is all set to travel with the Indian men’s team to Japan and will take over as head coach in the absence of Gautam Gambhir at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya later this month.Gautam Gambhir will remain in the senior squad for India’s home ODI series against the West Indies. The first ODI is scheduled to be played on September 27.Laxman will be assisted by former India spinner Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh, according to the list of coaches released by the sports ministry. The development was earlier reported by TimesofIndia.com in July.Laxman has previous experience in the Asian Games, having coached the Indian men’s team at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, where India won the gold medal.

India will defend their cricket titles at the men’s and women’s Asian Games

The Asian Games cricket competition will begin on September 24, with India playing their opening men’s match on September 28. India will be defending their men’s T20 title under captain Shreyas Iyer and the squad will also include teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The men’s team will face the other team from Group A, which consists of Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal.The Indian women’s team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will also enter the tournament as the defending champions. The women’s team will enter the competition in the quarterfinals, facing hosts Japan. Amol Muzumdar will continue as head coach of the women’s team, with bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali rounding out his support staff.

Indian Cricket Teams for the 2026 Asian Games

Indian Men’s Team: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh So, Vaaibra.Indian Women’s Team: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Gunalan Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma.