Asian Games 2026: VVS Laxman to take charge of Indian men's cricket team led by Shreyas Iyer in Japan
India will start their men's cricket campaign at the Asian Games 2026 on September 28 against the Group A runners-up. It was under Laxman's coaching, India won the gold medal at Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China.
Former India cricketer and the current Director of Cricket at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE), VVS Laxman will take charge as the head coach of Indian men's cricket team at the Asian Games 2026, starting in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan, later this month. Indian are the defending champions in men's cricket competition at the Asian Games.
As per the list of coaches released by the Sports Ministry, reported by ANI, Laxman will be joined by Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh in the backroom staff. Laxman was also the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team, that won gold medal in 2023 in Hangzhou, China.
The cricket competition at the Asian Games 2026 starts on September 24. The Indian men's cricket team will start their campaign on September 28, in the quarterfinals against the runners-up from Group A (which consists Nepal, Afghanistan and hosts Japan).
BCCI fields full-strength men's side
The BCCI has named a full-strength squad unlike the previous edition, led by star batter Shreyas Iyer. The squad also has teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
The top three includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, followed by Iyer, Shivam Dube and Tilak Varma in the middle-order. Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dube and Washington Sundar are the four all-rounders in the side for the Japan event.
Varun Chakravarthy will lead the spin attack, while Bumrah spearheads the pace attack which also has Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.
On the other hand, the Indian women's team will also defend its title and will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur. Amol Muzumdar will continue as the head coach of the Indian women’s team. Muzumdar will be assisted by bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali.
Why Gautam Gambhir won't travel to Japan?
This is not the first time Laxman will be coaching the Indian men's team. At times when regular head coach Gautam Gambhir was busy with other series, Laxman stepped up, especially in tours to Ireland and Zimbabwe.
Likewise, Gambhir will be busy with the senior team for the home ODI series against the West Indies, which starts on September 27. India will play the second and third ODIs on September 30 and October 3 respectively.
Indian men's cricket team at Asian Games 2026
Indian men's cricket team: 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, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.