VVS Laxman set to be India’s head coach for South Africa tour

Former India cricketer VVS Laxman is set to be India’s head coach for the white-ball tour to South Africa. It is worth noting that after the conclusion of the Test series against New Zealand, the Men in Blue will take on the Proteas in a four-match T20I matches, with the games to be held in Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion, and Johannesburg on November 8, 10, 13, and 15, respectively.

Laxman will be India’s coach as Gautam Gambhir will be with the Australia bound squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series 2024-25, which kicks off in Perth from November 22. The news of Laxman was confirmed by a BCCI official in a Cricbuzz report. 

Originally, the tour to South Africa was not supposed to be scheduled between the New Zealand Test series and the tour to Australia. However, it was later rescheduled after discussions between the BCCI and CSA. 

Furthermore, the likes of Sairaj Bahutule, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh, who are part of the coaching and support staff at the NCA in Bengaluru, will also be a part of the coaching contingent under Laxman for the South Africa our. 

Recently, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opined that due to the series and the warm-up game with India A, there will be about 50-60 players who will not be available for their state teams for the Ranji matches. 

"Next month, there's a needless four-match T20 series in South Africa before the tour to Australia. There will also be an 'A' team touring Australia next month, so effectively about 50 to 60 players will not be available for their state teams in the premier national tournament, the Ranji Trophy," Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

India's T20I squad for SA tour

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal