VVS Laxman likely to coach India on Ireland tour
New Delhi, May 18: National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman is likely to coach the Indian team during the two-match series in Ireland next month as it coincides with the Test squad's preparation in England.
Head coach Rahul Dravid will be with the Test squad in England ahead of the series beginning with the one-off Test from July 1.
The four-day practice game against Leicester ahead of the Test will be played from June 24-27 and that coincides with the two T20s in Ireland on June 26 and June 28.
"In all likelihood, Laxman will be with the T20 squad in Ireland as Dravid will be busy in England with the Test team," a BCCI source told PTI.
A similar situation arose last year when then head coach Ravi Shastri was with the Test team in England and Dravid, who was NCA head at that time, travelled with the limited overs squad to Sri Lanka.
Laxman, who succeeded Dravid at NCA, had travelled with the triumphant India Under-19 side to the World Cup in the Caribbean earlier this year.
There is also a possibility that selectors pick different squads for England and Ireland series.
A full-strength team is expected to be picked for the England tour comprising one Test, three T20s and as many ODIs.
A week after the IPL final, India host South Africa for five T20 Internationals beginning June 9. The squad is expected to be picked on May 22 and all-format senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to be rested.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
