In another big blow to the Indian cricket team, their head coach Rahul Dravid tested positive for Covid-19 just days before the Asia Cup 2022 was supposed to kick off, with reports suggesting that the coach might not travel to UAE with the team for the marquee event.
The former India batting legend was named the head coach of India in 2021 and has had a topsy-turvy time with the national team during his ongoing tenure. More recently he was given a rest ahead of India's tour of Zimbabwe, which was led by VVS Laxman as India sealed the series 3-0. With these latest reports, Laxman is touted to continue as the head coach if Dravid does end up missing the competition.
India will also be without the experience of the pace bowling pair Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, who were ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. Dravid’s omission will mean that the Indian team will head into the continental tournament without some of their most influential personnel in the team.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul returned to the side after recovering from the virus himself, but he looked like a shade of his former himself. He was sluggish in his innings but will most likely open for the Indian team alongside returning skipper Rohit Sharma.
Under VVS Laxman, India have done relatively well in recent tournaments. He guided a relatively young Indian side to an impressive clean sweep in the three-match ODI series against hosts Zimbabwe. He is also the current National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief and was in charge of the national team on their tour of Ireland in June 2022.
Laxman will hope to extend his winning run with the team in the Asia Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on the 28th of August.
