VVS Laxman to replace Gautam Gambhir as India’s head coach for South Africa series

Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman will step in as India’s head coach for the upcoming white-ball tour of South Africa. Following the conclusion of the Test series against New Zealand, the Men in Blue are set to face South Africa in a four-match T20I series. These matches are scheduled for November 8, 10, 13, and 15 in Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion, and Johannesburg.

Laxman’s appointment comes as Gautam Gambhir will be traveling with the squad bound for the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, which starts in Perth on November 22. The news of Laxman’s assignment was confirmed by a BCCI official in a Cricbuzz report.

Initially, the South Africa tour was not planned to fall between the New Zealand series and the tour to Australia. However, it was rescheduled after discussions between the BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

In addition to Laxman, Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh, all part of the NCA’s coaching and support staff in Bengaluru, will join the coaching team for the South Africa tour.

Recently, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the strain on player availability due to the scheduling. With India A also set to play warm-up games in Australia, Gavaskar expressed concerns about 50-60 players being unavailable for their state teams during the Ranji Trophy.

India’s T20I squad for the South Africa tour:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, and Yash Dayal.