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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on August 24 (Wednesday) appointed the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief as the interim head coach of Team India for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Laxman, who was the head coach of the Indian team that recently registered a 3-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, has already joined the squad in Dubai. The announcement from the country's cricket board comes on the backdrop of regular head coach Rahul Dravid testing positive for COVID-19.
The BCCI also announced that Dravid ‘will join the team once he tests negative and is cleared by the BCCI Medical Team.’ Along with Laxman, KL Rahul, who was the captain of the Indian side for the Zimbabwe series, has also joined the rest of the squad in Dubai along with middle-order batter Deepak Hooda and fast bowler Avesh Khan.
The reports of Dravid contracting the virus emerged on Tuesday, which was later confirmed by the BCCI. The former India captain has not traveled with the team to the UAE.
VVS Laxman has coached Team India in five international matches so far. He first took charge of the team in the two-match T20I series against Ireland before traveling to Zimbabwe.
The Asia Cup 2022 gets underway on August 27, with Sri Lanka locking horns against Bangladesh. The Men in Blue will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday). India, who has won the Asia Cup title a record seven times, are gunning for their eighth title.
