VVS Laxman Named India Head Coach for Asian Games 2026
The BCCI has named VVS Laxman, Director of Cricket at the BCCI’s Center of Excellence, as head coach of India’s men’s cricket squad for the Asian Games 2026.
The event will take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, 2026, with the cricket competition beginning on September 24. India’s first match is scheduled for September 28.
Shreyas Iyer will captain India’s men’s team, while Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the women’s squad. Amol Muzumdar remains the head coach of the Indian women’s team, with Aavishkar Salvi as bowling coach and Munish Bali as fielding coach.
Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir will continue to coach the senior men’s team in the West Indies one-day international series, which begins on September 27.
Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh are among VVS Laxman men’s team assistant coaches. VVS Laxman previously coached India in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where the men’s team won gold. The men’s and women’s teams are both defending T20 champions heading into the 2026 season.
In the men’s draw, India will meet the second-placed team from Group A, which includes Afghanistan, Japan, and Nepal, in their first match on September 28. The women’s team competes in the quarterfinals, where they will face Japan.
What is the context for VVS Laxman coaching appointment?
VVS Laxman appointment is similar to the situation employed for the 2023 Asian Games, when he served as head coach while the senior team’s normal coaching staff continued its own international responsibilities. That approach resulted in a gold medal for India in Hangzhou, and the BCCI has adopted the structure for the 2026 tournament.
Indian men’s squad for Asian Games 2026:
Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Sooryavanshi, a teenage batting sensation, is among the notable inclusions in the 15-member group.
Indian women’s squad for Asian Games 2026:
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Gunalan Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, and Nandani Sharma. Both squads will aim to retain the titles India claimed at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.
