'Never thought we will play cricket in China' - Head coach VVS Laxman ahead of India's Asian Games 2023 campaign 

Last week, the Indian women's cricket team scripted history in China by winning a gold medal. Now it is the turn of their men's team to make their nation proud with remarkable performances. Team India coaching staff led by VVS Laxman as well as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad alongside his teammates arrived in Hangzhou a few days ago. The Men in Blue will face Nepal in Quarter Final 1 on Tuesday, October 3 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field.

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The men's tournament started on September 27 when Nepal and Mongolia faced each other. It was moreover an annihilation by the Nepal team as they destroyed their opponents with some serious striking. Several records were born in the encounter, including the fastest century and fastest half-century, breaking Yuvraj Singh's 16-year-old record. Nepal became the first team to cross 300 runs in the shorter format of the game and they won by the biggest margin as well.

Speaking ahead of India's opening match, head coach Laxman expressed his excitement about playing cricket in China for the first time. The former India middle-order batter said that it is a big opportunity for the players and a matter of pride.

“I never ever thought that we will come and play cricket in China. This is a great opportunity for the entire team because participating in the Asian games itself is a big opportunity and a matter of great pride for all this players. I am really looking forward to this tournament.”

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T-20 format is an ideal format to be part of Olympics: Laxman 

Laxman also expressed his belief that cricket will be part of the Olympics in the near future. The 48-year-old added that T20 cricket is the ideal format for the major international multi-sport event.

“I think, the T-20 format is an ideal format and to be part of the Olympics, I hope that, in the near future, cricket will become part of the Olympics, and, all the cricketers will get an opportunity to represent the country and win medals for the country in the Olympics," Laxman was quoted as saying by ANI.

India squad for Asian Games 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube and Prabhsimran Singh (wk) Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Sai Sudarsan.