Asian Games 2026: Sports Ministry Confirms Gautam Gambhir Will Not Travel, New Coaching Staff Revealed

GAutam Gambhir will not travel to Japan

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has confirmed that Gautam Gambhir will not travel with the Indian men's cricket team for the 2026 Asian Games, which are scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 4 in Japan's Aichi-Nagoya. The Men in Blue will aim to defend their title, which they won in the 2023 at Hangzhou.

Unlike in the previous edition when a second-string team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad travelled to China and managed to win the gold medal, this time around a full-strength side is travelling to Japan for the continental event with regular skipper Shreyas Iyer leading the team and the notable presence of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah and teen prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

However, the team's main head coach Gautam Gambhir will not make the trip to Japan. The MYAS confirmed that the team will be instead led by Centre of Excellence (CoE) head VVS Laxman. Meanwhile, former India players Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and Subhadeep Ghosh will be part of his support staff.

This is due to the fact that Gambhir will be with the ODI team, who have a three-match ODI series against the West Indies at the time from September 27 to October 3. That side captained by Shubman Gill will be devoid of the services of vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan, and Bumrah, who are part of the team in their last assignment against England in June.

It is worth noting that Laxman was also the head coach of the team in the 2023 Asian Games, as Rahul Dravid was with the ODI team, who were playing the 2023 Cricket World Cup warm-up games at the time.

On the other hand, the Indian women's team will have their regular coaching staff led by head coach Amol Mazumdar alongside Aavishkar Salvi and Munish Bali.

The women's team will take place from September 17 to 22, while the men's event will start on September 24, and the gold medal clashes are scheduled on October 3.

Maroof Fajandar has been named as the team leader of the 50-member total cricket delegation (players + support staff).

Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with four years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb...