VVS Laxman and Hrishikesh Kanitkar to coach India Men’s and Women’s teams respectively in Asian Games

Head of NCA VVS Laxman to coach India Men's Cricket Team in Asian Games 2023.

VVS Laxman and Hrishikesh Kanitkar will travel as the head coaches for India's men's and women's teams, respectively, to the 2023 Asian Games, which will be played in Hangzhou, China. The event will see India's men’s team participate in cricket event for the first time.

Both teams will enter the competition at the quarter-final stage. As per the latest schedule, India men's quarter-finals match is on October 3, with the semis likely on October 5, if they qualify. The finals is scheduled for October 7.

Women’s team quarter-finals is scheduled for September 21, with their potential semi-finals on September 23 and finals on September 25. The games will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng (ZJUT) cricket ground.

Sairaj Bahutule will be the bowling coach for the men, while Munish Bali will be their fielding coach. For the women's team, Rajib Dutta will be the bowling coach and Subhadeep Ghosh the fielding coach.

Ruturaj Gaikwad to captain India men’s team, Smriti Mandhana to lead India women’s team for Asian Games

Laxman had previously stepped in as head coach of Indian team on men's tours when Rahul Dravid had been rested. Men in Blue side will be the second-string team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad and featuring IPL stars like Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, and Shivam Dube.

During the home T20I series against Australia in December of last year, the tri-series in South Africa, the T20 World Cup, and earlier this year, Kanitkar oversaw the women's team.

Since Romesh Powar was transferred to the NCA in December of last year, the women's squad has been without a permanent head coach. Nooshin Al Khadeer, a former Indian bowler, was chosen as the team's interim coach for their final assignment, a white-ball tour of Bangladesh.

On the other hand, Smriti Mandhana will captain the Indian women’s team, which will be at full strength. Regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a two-match ban for her outburst against Bangladesh recently and will not be playing in the first two matches of the Asian Games.