Former India cricketer VVS Laxman is likely to take up the job of India team head coach for the T20I series against South Africa and Ireland. Earlier reports suggested that the BCCI selection committee will build two different squads for South Africa and England series. Now, the coaching staff for both teams will be different as well. Currently, Rahul Dravid coaches the senior team.
Apparently, Dravid will travel with the main players to England in mid-June. At that time, the second-string team will be playing the five-match T20I series against the Proteas at home. After this, the same set of players will be playing two T20Is against Ireland in June. On the other hand, the senior players will play the warm-up game against Leicestershire starting on June 24.
The Indian team would look to acclimatize to the English conditions before heading to Birmingham to play the postponed Test match. The game is part of the five-match series played in August and September last year. Meanwhile, a top BCCI official has said that the board will ask Laxman to step in as the team’s head coach for South Africa and Ireland series
“We now have a warm-up game against Leicestershire on June 24 before the Birmingham test. Rahul Dravid and team will leave on June 15th or 16th. We will be asking VVS (Laxman) to step in for India South Africa T20’s and Ireland T20’sâ€, informed a top BCCI official as per the report on InsideSport.
This isn’t the first coaching stint for the Hyderabad player. Earlier this year, he was appointed as the head coach of the Colts team for the U19 World Cup in the Caribbean Islands. The team went on to win the title without losing any game. Also, there could be a possibility that he could be working with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan or Hardik Pandya as skippers for the T20Is. The Proteas have already announced their full-strength squad for India series.
