Former Indian cricketer and current National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman will serve as head coach of Team India for the three ODIs against Zimbabwe from August 18-22.

With several players rested, KL Rahul will lead the team in the series as he has regained his fitness, with Shikhar Dhawan named as his deputy after initially being announced as the captain.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday (August 12) confirmed VVS Laxman will take charge of the side for the short trip as regular head coach Rahul Dravid will be with the T20I team as they begin their preparations for the Asia Cup 2022 in UAE.

Laxman had previously performed the same duties for two T20Is in Ireland and one T20I in England in June-July while Dravid was with the Test squad.

"Yes, VVS Laxman will be in charge of the Indian team in Zimbabwe for the three-match ODI series. It's not like Rahul Dravid is taking a break. The ODI series in Zimbabwe finishes on August 22 and Dravid along with Indian team will reach the UAE on August 23. Since there is little gap between the two events, Laxman will be in charge of the Indian squad in Zimbabwe," Jay Shah told PTI.

"Since only KL and Hooda are there with the ODI squad in Zimbabwe, it was only logical that the head coach would be with the T20 squad." he added.

Apart from KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda, Avesh Khan also features in both squads. The trio will travel to Dubai from Harare directly. 

Deepak Chahar and Akshar Patel, who are going to Zimbabwe, are not in the main squad for the Asia Cup but are among the three standby players for the tournament along with Shreyas Iyer.

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: KL Rahul (Captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar.