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India head coach Rahul Dravid has been given a break after India’s T20 World Cup campaign ended on Thursday with NCA Chief VVS Laxman taking over as acting head coach for the team’s white-ball tour of New Zealand starting on November 18.
India are scheduled to play three T20Is and as many ODIs in their upcoming New Zealand tour starting from November 18 to November 30.
Apart from the coaching staff, India have also rested some senior players like captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“The NCA team headed by Laxman along with batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar and bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule will join the New Zealand-bound squad,” a BCCI source told PTI.
Laxman, the chief of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), has had other short-term stints as India’s coach. He previously coached India during the tours of Ireland and Zimbabwe earlier this year, while he was also the coach during the last month’s home ODI series against South Africa. Earlier, he was in charge of the India Under-19 team that won the ODI World Cup in February.
India’s tour of New Zealand will kick off with a three-match T20I series next Friday in Wellington.
After the New Zealand tour, Dravid will immediately return to his coaching duties when India tour Bangladesh in December. India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin will also return to the Indian team for the tour of Bangladesh, beginning December 4.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead India in the T20I series starting on November 18 while senior opener Shikhar Dhawan will captain in the ODI series against New Zealand starting on November 25.
India suffered a humiliating defeat and were knocked out of the T20 World Cup as England thrashed them by 10 wickets in the semi-final on Thursday. The members of the Indian team have now started leaving Australia. While Kohli left from Adelaide, Rahul and Rohit are also expected to fly out soon.
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