India will play three T20Is and ODIs each on the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
India’s next assignment is the white-ball tour of New Zealand, where they will play three T20Is and as many ODIs.
For the tour, beginning November 18, head coach Rahul Dravid has been given a break and VVS Laxman will perform the role of an acting chief coach, PTI reported on Friday (November 11).
As per the report, Dravid’s support staff members Vikram Rathour (batting coach) and Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) won’t travel with the team as well and Laxman will have Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Sairaj Bahutule as his deputies.
"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.
It’s not the first time VVS Laxman will be travelling as coach with the Indian team. He was on duty during India’s tour of Ireland and Zimbabwe earlier this year and also performed the role in the home ODI series against South Africa last month.
Besides the coaching staff, India’s senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul won’t feature in the white-ball series.
Hardik Pandya will captain the T20I team while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the ODI side on the New Zealand tour.
India Squad for NZ T20Is:
Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.
India Squad for NZ ODIs:
Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.
(With PTI inputs)