VVS Laxman to don head coach's hat during India's tour of NZ, Rahul Dravid rested after T20 WC debacle

After the end of India's T20 World Cup, where they once again faltered in the semi-finals, head coach Rahul Dravid has been rested for the upcoming tour of New Zealand. In his absence, VVS Laxman will take don the coach's hatfor the white-ball tour of NZ.

In addition, aPTI report has claimed that the duo of Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Sairaj Bahutule will join the New Zealand-bound squad, takingup the roles of batting and bowling coach respectively. Earlier, Laxman -- who succeeded Dravid as the NCA chief in December 2021 --served as the interim head coach in Dravid's absence during a second-stringed India'stour of Ireland (comprising two T20Is), three ODIs in Zimbabwe (mid-August) and last month's three-match 50-over series versus South Africa at home.Moreover, India's U-19 team had also won the 2022 ODI World Cup under Laxman's guidance.

Thus, Laxman is all set to take over the head coach's positionin the absence of his former teammate Dravid. The latter has had a busy few months and has been given some break post India's ten-wicket loss to England in the second semi-final of the ongoing T20 WC in Australia.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya will lead the T20I line-up in the three-match series versus Kane Williamson's Black Caps, starting on November 18. Shikhar Dhawan will captain India in the following three ODIs during the NZ tour.

Dravid is expected to return for India's tour of Bangladesh, in December, comprising two Tests and three ODIs.

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Squad for NZ T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.

Squad for NZ ODIs:Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.