VVS Laxman to take charge of NCA on December 13, will travel with Under-19 team for World Cup
VVS Laxman Former India skipper Rahul Dravid was recently appointed the head coach of Team India. There were quite a few names in contention but given what Dravid has done for Indian cricket, especially the way he has prepared a strong bench strength working with India A team, he was a pretty obvious choice. Another former India player who was competing with Dravid was VVS Laxman. There were contrasting reports running in media about Laxman’s willingness to coach India. While a few reports stated that Laxman is not interested in taking up the role due to its numerous challenges, few reported the batter is keen on becoming the head coach. The truth has finally been revealed by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly himself. The president revealed that Laxman was keen on becoming India head coach but things couldn’t work out with him. He, however, added that Laxman will get his opportunity to coach India in future. “He was keen on the national team job, but that couldn’t worked out. But somewhere down the line, he will have that opportunity to coach the national team,” Ganguly was quoted by Hindustan Times. Ganguly also revealed how difficult it was to convince Dravid to take up the coaching role. “We had Rahul in mind for a long period of time, both me and Jay, but he wasn’t agreeing because of the time away from home [and] because doing a national team’s job is [about being] on the road for about 8-9 months in a year and he has two young children,” he said. The New Zealand series was Dravid’s first assignment as a full time India coach. India went on to win the T20I and Test series. Meanwhile, Laxman took over as NCA head.)
Former India batter VVS Laxman will join the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as the head of cricket on December 13. Earlier, Laxman was tipped to take over from the post which Rahul Dravid vacated. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had also confirmed that Laxman had agreed to be the new NCA head. Now, his appointment was finalized during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI on Saturday (December 4).
Alongside Laxman, Troy Cooley has been finalized as the pace bowling coach of NCA. Cooley comes with a tremendous amount of experience as he was the bowling coach of England and Australia. He was also instrumental in England winning the Ashes in 2005. Ganguly along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah were of the opinion that the role of NCA head should be given to someone who has a considerable amount of experience and comes with a sound knowledge of the game.
Ganguly felt Laxman would be an ideal candidate to succeed Dravid. “Laxman’s contract has been signed already. His last media assignment is the second Test between New Zealand and India. He will be joining Bengaluru from December 13. He is also for a certain period be in the West Indies for the U-19 ICC World Cup,” a senior BCCI office-bearer, privy to the development, was quoted as saying by India TV.
The BCCI official also said that either Hrishikesh Kanitkar or Sitanshu Kotak, who are currently NCA coaches will likely be the head coach for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup.
“We have also finalized all the NCA coaching appointments and it has been minuted,” he added further.” The Under-19 World Cup will be played in West Indies from January 14 to February 5, 2022. India finished as the runners-up in the last edition of the showpiece event in 2020.
