As reported earlier by InsideSport, BCCI will select two separate squads for India vs South Africa T20 Series & India tour of England. Now InsideSport has learned that the two teams will also have separate coaching staff for each tour. Rahul Dravid will travel with the Test team to England. VVS Laxman is tipped to coach the team for India vs South Africa T20 Series & the two-match T20I series against Ireland.
“We now have a warm-up game against Leicestershire on June 24 before the Birmingham test. Rahul Dravid and team will leave on June 15th or 16th. We will be asking VVS (Laxman) to step in for India South Africa T20’s and Ireland T20’s”, informed a top BCCI official
Indian selectors will once again select two teams. One team will play South Africa series and another for England tour. With senior players rested for the T20 series against South Africa, the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee will pick a young squad with Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya back from exile. The other squad will be for England Tour.
Last year, India had two squads playing simultaneously in England and in Sri Lanka. This time though, they will not play simultaneously. Rather, IPL performers will make up the squad for South Africa series. The seniors and multi-format stars including skipper Rohit Sharma will travel to England on June 15.
Why selectors are picking two teams?
After a grueling IPL season, all multi-format players will be rested from the South Africa series. Shikhar Dhawan will be back as captain for the second-string side, made up of top IPL performers. The rest including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant will be rested and will travel to England on June 15. For South Africa series, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik will make a comeback besides Sanju Samson.
The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ishan Kishan will also be picked besides new faces in Umran Malik, Mohsin Khan and Jitesh Sharma. For the England series, Cheteshwar Pujara will make a comeback but Rahane has been ruled out. Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer besides Shubman Gill will be picked for the England Tour. India will play a warm-up match in England before the one-off 5th Test against England from July 1-5. Both squads will be picked in a selection meeting on May 23 in Mumbai.
