VVS Laxman to coach India at Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya

Laxman Back in the Dugout: BCCI Names Ex-Opener to Lead Men at AG2026

The BCCI has made a calculated call for the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (Sept 19–Oct 4, cricket from Sept 24): VVS Laxman — currently Director of Cricket at the CoE — is handed the men's team reins. India open on Sept 28. Same playbook that banked gold in Hangzhou 2023: Laxman steps in as head coach while the senior setup's regular head coach (Gautam Gambhir) stays anchored for the WI ODI series kicking off Sept 27. Clean resource allocation — no disruption to the main portfolio.

Support staff: Sunil Joshi (Bwl), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (Bat), Subhadeep Ghosh. Both men's and women's teams arrive as defending T20 champions — a real shot at a back-to-back double.

Men's squad (15): Shreyas Iyer (c), 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. The teenage bat Sooryavanshi is the standout inclusion — think early-stage unicorn, high ceiling, negligible price.

Women's squad (15): Harmanpreet Kaur (c), 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, Nandani Sharma. Amol Muzumdar stays as head coach (Aavishkar Salvi Bwl, Munish Bali fielding).

The draw: Men open Sept 28 vs the 2nd-placed Group A side (that's the Afghanistan/Japan/Nepal block). Women enter at the QF stage vs Japan.

My read: Laxman's match-reading IQ is a genuine edge in a compressed tournament. Pair Bumrah's death-bllo precision with a spin duo of Chakravarthy-Bishnoi, and India's bowling book is deeply undervalued by the market. Gold is the floor here — not a hype prediction, a near-certain return.

Source: Crictracker