NCA chief VVS Laxman likely to don head coach's hat for SA, Ireland series in Rahul Dravid's absence: Report

Team India's cricketing calendar will resume as soon as the IPL 2022 edition concludes, on May 29. The senior men's team's hectic schedule will once again see two teams in action at the same time, as was the case last year. A white-ball squad will face South Africa at home and Ireland in their own backyard, whereas the red-ball team will be on the England tour in June-July.

Thus, the Indian teamwill have two captains leading the national side simultaneouslyalong withtwo coaching staffat work. In head coach Rahul Dravid's absence, who will be with the Test line-up, National Cricket Academy's (NCA) current head VVS Laxman is likely to step in his former teammate's role and act as the head coach for the white-ball assignments versus SA and Ireland.Earlier this year, the former Test specialist had assisted the victorious Yash Dhull-led India U-19 team inthe Junior World Cup in West Indies.

“We now have a warm-up game against Leicestershire on June 24 before the Birmingham Test. Rahul Dravidand team will leave on June 15th or 16th. We will be asking VVS (Laxman) to step in for India South Africa T20’s and Ireland T20’s," a top BCCI official was quoted as saying byInsideSport.in.

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In mid-2021, a similar such arrangement was made within the Indian team. In June-July, the then head coach Ravi Shastri was with the Virat Kohli-led Indian team in the United Kingdom for the WTC finaland England Tests. On the other hand, the previous NCA chief Dravid took over the coaching role for the Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian side touring Sri Lanka, during the same time in late July.