VVS Laxman to Lead Indian Men's Cricket Team at 2026 Asian Games
Leadership and Coaching Staff for the Asian Games
VVS Laxman, the Director of Cricket at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence, is set to lead the Indian men's cricket team during the upcoming Asian Games 2026, which will take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, later this month.
Coaching Team and Match Schedule
Assisting Laxman will be Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh, as confirmed by the Sports Ministry's coaching roster. Laxman previously guided the Indian men's team to a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. Meanwhile, regular head coach Gautam Gambhir will focus on the senior team during the home ODI series against the West Indies, with the first match set for September 27. The cricket events at the Asian Games will kick off on September 24, with India playing its first match four days later.
Women's Team Coaching and Competition Format
Amol Muzumdar will remain the head coach for the Indian women's cricket team, supported by bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali. The women's team will enter the tournament at the quarterfinal stage, facing Japan, while the men's team will compete against the second-placed team from Group A, which includes Afghanistan, Japan, and Nepal.
Defending Champions: Men's and Women's Teams
The Indian men's team, under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, aims to defend its T20 title, featuring the young batting talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Similarly, the women's team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will also strive to retain its championship.
Squad Details for the Asian Games 2026
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.
Women's Cricket Team
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), 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.