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Asian Games 2026, VVS Laxman: Cricket will also be included in the Asian Games 2026, starting on September 19 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Many major teams, including India and Pakistan, will take the field to win the gold medal. Team India has already been announced for this tournament, whose captaincy has been handed over to Shreyas Iyer. Now, news has come out that Gautam Gambhir will not be the head coach of Team India in the Asian Games. In his place, former Indian cricketer and head of the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE), VVS Laxman, will take over the responsibility of the team’s head coach.

VVS Laxman will be the head coach of Team India

According to a PTI report, former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman will be the head coach of Team India for the 2026 Asian Games. He will replace Gautam Gambhir as interim coach. Laxman has previously coached the Indian team on several occasions. Team India’s schedule is expected to be very busy in September and October, and as a result, the coaching staff’s responsibilities have been divided according to the various tournaments. The Indian team will first play a T20 series against Afghanistan between September 13th and 17th.

The team will then play a series of ODIs and T20Is against the West Indies at home from September 27th to October 17th. Amidst this busy schedule, head coach Gautam Gambhir will remain with the senior Indian team for the series against the West Indies. Meanwhile, Laxman will take over coaching duties for the Indian team participating in the Asian Games.

These veterans will be present in Laxman’s coaching staff

VVS Laxman will serve as the head coach of Team India at the 2026 Asian Games. His coaching staff will include experienced players Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh as assistant coaches. The men’s cricket tournament at the 2026 Asian Games will be played from September 24 to October 3, while the women’s tournament will run from September 17 to 22. Ten teams will participate in the men’s category and eight in the women’s category. The tournament will be played in the T20 format.

Laxman’s impressive record as interim coach

51-year-old VVS Laxman has been associated with the Indian cricket team for a long time and has served as interim head coach on several occasions when needed. His experience working with young players is considered crucial for the team. Recently, under Laxman’s leadership, the young Indian team achieved a resounding 3-0 victory in the T20 series against Zimbabwe. During that time, Gautam Gambhir was unavailable, and Laxman successfully assumed the coaching duties.

It’s worth noting that before the Zimbabwe tour, Team India suffered defeats in T20 series against England and Ireland. Gautam Gambhir was also present with the Indian team during these tours. Laxman’s clean sweep of Zimbabwe’s victories under his coaching once again proved his coaching experience and ability to manage young players.

Indian men’s cricket team for Asian Games 2026

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dubey, Tilak Verma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.