VVS Laxman to step in as Team India head coach for Asian Games 2026 in Gautam Gambhir’s absence | Cricket News
Former India batter and Director of Cricket at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, VVS Laxman, is set to travel with the Indian men’s team to Japan and will take charge as head coach in the absence of Gautam Gambhir for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya later this month.Gautam Gambhir will remain with the senior side 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 Asian Games experience, having coached the Indian men’s team at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, where India won the gold medal.
India to defend Men’s and Women’s Asian Games cricket titles
The cricket competition at the Asian Games will begin on September 24, with India scheduled to play its opening men’s match on September 28. India will defend its men’s T20 title under captain Shreyas Iyer, with teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also part of the squad. The men’s team will face the second-placed side from Group A, which comprises Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal.The Indian women’s team will also enter the tournament as defending champions and will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur. The women’s side will enter the competition at the quarterfinal stage and face hosts Japan. Amol Muzumdar will continue as the head coach of the women’s team, with bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali completing his support staff.
Indian cricket teams for Asian Games 2026
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, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.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.
