VVS Laxman to take over as full time head coach of Indian cricket team: Reports

India’s former cricketer and current head coach Rahul Dravid’s two-year-long contract for the chief position recently ended after the conclusion of the ODI World Cup 2023. Even though India had a successful campaign with 10 wins throughout the tournament they failed to make it 11 in a row and lost the final game and the championship to Australia. 

As per sources, Dravid isn’t keen to get his contract renewed by the Indian Cricket Board and is more interested in continuing to coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru which also happens to be his home place. A strong contender for the position stands to be VVS Laxman who has also served as the interior head coach of the team multiple times before. 

Rahul Dravid’s record as head coach for Indian team 

Highs 

• Making India the No. 1 team in both Tests and ODIs
• Winning the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka after defeating the host nation and defending champions
• Masterminding India’s Test series win against Australia at home earlier this year
• Shubman Gill became the player that he is under Dravid
• Helped Virat Kohli rediscover his magical batting form
• Meticulous planning ahead of the ODI World Cup, forging a near-perfect plan of attacking cricket with Rohit Sharma

Lows 

• Loss in the South Africa Test series away from home after taking a 1-0 lead
• Semifinal defeat in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia
• Loss in the World Test Championship final to Australia
• Loss in the ODI World Cup final to Australia

A trusted source of the Indian Cricket Board revealed, “Laxman has expressed his keenness for the job. During the World Cup, Laxman travelled to Ahmedabad to meet the top bosses in this regard. He’s likely to sign a long-time contract as the Team India coach, and will certainly travel with the team in that capacity for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which will be his first as full-time India head coach,” 

The source further said “Dravid has communicated to the board that he isn’t keen to continue as a full-time coach. For close to 20 years, he has travelled with the Indian team as a player, and for the past couple of years, he again went through the same grind, which he doesn’t want to undergo.”

“He’s fine with a role at the NCA as the head there (a role he previously served in), which will allow him to stay back in his hometown Bengaluru. Like earlier, he’s fine with coaching the team sporadically, but not again as a full-time coach,” said the source. 

“He’s in talks with an IPL team for a big two-year contract. They might continue, or Laxman, like any other coach, might want to bring his own set of people in the support staff,” the source concluded.