After the culmination of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2024, Team India will tour Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series.
For the series, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman will reportedly perform the role of the Indian team’s interim coach.
It is pertinent to mention here that Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach is due to expire at the end of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Last week, former India internationals Gautam Gambhir and WV Raman were reportedly interviewed by the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). While the Indian board is yet to clear the air, Gambhir is considered as the front-runner to replace Dravid.
However, the support staff needs to be finalized and it remains to be seen whether the BCCI releases an advertisement for that. The head coach is heard when it comes to appointing the support staff and it is likely to be the case this time around as well.
Meanwhile, a report published in News18 CricketNext claims that NCA coaches Sitanshu Kotak and Sairaj Bahutule are likely to be part of the Laxman-led coaching staff during the tour of Zimbabwe.
Both Kotak and Bahutule have been part of India, India A and India U-19 coaching groups in the past. They have also worked with the Zimbabwe-bound Indian squad members at the NCA.
Any movement on the coaching front is expected only after the end of India’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign.
“Whatever will happen, will happen after the World Cup. No point in having any distractions when the tournament is going on. Right now, all our attention should be on the team in the Caribbean and hope they end the wait for the ICC trophy,” CricketNext quoted a senior BCCI official as saying.
India’s tour of Zimbabwe is slated to get underway on July 6. All the five T20Is will be played in Harare.
India squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube.
