Asian Games 2026: VVS Laxman to coach Team India in continental tournament

The Asian Games 2026 is set to kick off from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Ahead of the continental event, legendary cricketer VVS Laxman is set to take charge of the Indian men's team.

He will be assisted by Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh, according to the list of coaches released by the Sports Ministry. Earlier, Laxman had coached the Indian men's team in the 2023 edition of the mega event in China, where the "Men in Blue" clinched the gold medal.

During the Asian Games 2026, the cricket event will begin on September 24. Team India will begin the campaign on September 28.

Regular coach Gautam Gambhir will continue coaching the senior men's team for the home ODI series against the West Indies. The first match between the teams is scheduled to be played on September 27.

On the other hand, Amol Muzumdar will continue as head coach of the Indian women's team. Bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali will assist him.

The Indian women's team will enter the competition at the quarterfinal stage and face Japan, while the men's team will take on the second-placed side from Group A, comprising Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal.

Ahead of the marquee tournament, cricket fans will be excited to watch the towering maximums from explosive batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's willow. The left-handed batsman has already raised the expectation by delivering impressive knocks in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The "Men in Blue", under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, will defend their title.

The Indian women's team will also defend its title and will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur.

Asian Games 2026: India's squads

Indian 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.

Indian 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.

(With ANI Inputs)