After India's semi-final exit from T20 World Cup 2022, head coach Rahul Dravid has been given a break from his duties for the upcoming limited-overs tour of New Zealand. In his absence, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman will take over as coach for the three T20Is and three ODIs starting November 18 in Wellington.
"The NCA team headed by Laxman with Hrishikesh Kanitkar (batting) and Sairaj Bahutule (bowling) will join the New Zealand-bound squad," a BCCI source told PTI.
This is not the first time Laxman has taken over as interim head coach in the absence of Dravid. When the Indian side was gearing up for the rescheduled Test at Edgbaston against England earlier this year, Laxman was with Hardik Pandya-led second-string team against Ireland for the T20I series.
This time around as well Pandya will be leading the Indian side in T20Is as senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been rested for the limited-overs series. In the ODI series, opener Shikhar Dhawan will be leading India against the Kiwis.
India's squad for NZ T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.
India's squad for NZ ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.
Schedule of India’s tour of New Zealand 2022
1st T20I – 18th November, Wellington
2nd T20I – 20th November, Mount Maunganui
3rd T20I – November 22nd, Napier
1st ODI – 25th November, Auckland
2nd ODI – 27th November, Hamilton
3rd ODI – 30th November, Christchurch
