VVS Laxman in line to be next India coach after Rahul Dravid's tenure

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in a proactive mode in the World Cup year and has already initiated planning for the 50-over tournament to be held later this year. The January 1 review meeting laid the foundation for the road ahead and now the focus is likely to shift towards the head coach.

Current coach Rahul Dravid’s contract is till the 2023 World Cup and should he not consider an extension, News18 Cricketnext has reliably learnt that the Indian cricket board is looking at VVS Laxman, Head of Cricket at the NCA, as the replacement.

The 48-year-old, who was also in the mix when Dravid was appointed coach in November 2021, is on top of the list and has already been on coaching assignments with the Indian team in Dravid’s absence. He was with the team for the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup when Dravid was down with COVID-19 and has also travelled for various bilateral series in the past.

In his current assignment, Laxman is heading operations at the NCA and grooming the next-gen, much like Dravid did before he was appointed head coach of the senior team.

Laxman has travelled with the India U-19 team for the 2022 World Cup too and played a very proactive role with the young bunch during their successful campaign.

Specialist coach for T20?

While Hardik Pandya taking over as T20 captain is all but certain, and Rohit Sharma likely to continue as the Test and ODI captain, split coaching – separate specialist coach for T20I – is not likely to happen anytime soon.

“Has that happened in Indian cricket before?…” a senior BCCI official had said when asked about the possibility of split coaching being injected into the set-up.

T20 is emerging as a different beast in the cricket ecosystem and demands of the format call for a different and specialist approach. Hardik as captain is a step in the right direction but more measures are needed to cater to the demands of the unforgiving format.

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