VVS Laxman With Indian Team In England Despite 'No Official Role'. Report Reveals BCCI Sources' Reply

NDTV

8 hours ago

Gautam Gambhir, Indian cricket team head coach, is currently not with the side. Ahead of India vs India A intra-squad match that began on Friday, Gambhir flew back home due to a family emergency. Another such family matter had earlier prompted Gambhir to fly back home from Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A report by news agency PTI said Gautam Gambhir had to fly back to attend to his mother, who suffered a heart attack and is in ICU in a New Delhi hospital. In his absence VVS Laxman could be seen with the team. Laxman is officially associated with the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, Laxman has not been assigned any official role by the BCCI. "He has gone there for some other purpose, not on any assignment with the Indian team. He travelled to London from Lausanne," the report quoted a source as saying.
The report went on to quote another source as saying: "The target is to win in England, and he may have spoken to the coaches and selectors present here, and perhaps even attended the intra-squad game. But he holds no official role with this team."
"He went to Switzerland and simply stopped by in London to spend time with the boys. It was always part of his plan," another source said.
According to a report in PTI, Gambhir is expected to return to England before the 1st Test in Leeds.
"His mother is showing signs of recovery although she is still in the ICU. In all likelihood, he will be back in the UK before the start of the opening Test (starting June 20) if all goes well.'
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
England squad for first Test vs India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.