Gautam Gambhir will not be in charge of the Indian men’s cricket team at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The coaching role will instead be taken up by VVS Laxman, the Director of Cricket at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE). Laxman will have Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh as part of his coaching staff, as per the list released by the Sports Ministry.
Laxman is no stranger to the Asian Games setup. He previously coached India’s men’s team at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where the side secured the gold medal.
Gambhir will continue to work with India’s senior team and is expected to be with the squad for the upcoming home ODI series against the West Indies. The opening ODI is scheduled for September 27.
The cricket tournament at the Asian Games will get underway on September 24, while India’s campaign is scheduled to begin on September 28.
On the women’s side, Amol Muzumdar will remain at the helm as head coach. He will be supported by bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali.
The Indian women’s team will enter the tournament at the quarter-final stage and take on hosts Japan. India’s men, meanwhile, will face the second-placed team from Group A, which includes Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal.
India will be looking to defend the gold medals won by both its men’s and women’s teams at the previous Asian Games. Shreyas Iyer will captain the men’s side, with young batting prospect Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also part of the squad. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the women’s team in their title defence.
