Coach should be hands-on, what do they need breaks for, opines Ravi Shastri

India will take on New Zealand in three T20Is and as many ODIs in the land of the Kiwis starting November 18 in Wellington. The team will be without a bunch of key players as well as the regular coaching staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach T Dilip, who have been given rest following a hectic period of cricket including the World T20 Down Under.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri, who was in charge of the team for four years before Dravid took over, has criticized the decision by the Board of Control for Cricket in India stating the coaches should spend as much time with the squad as possible. 

"Very good question, I do not believe in breaks because I want to understand my team, I want to understand my players and I want to be then in control of that team. I mean these breaks, what do you need them for," he was quoted saying by NDTV in a media call organized by Prime Video.

National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman will be leading the squad in Dravid's absence in what will be his third stint already. Laxman had substituted for his former teammate when India had toured Ireland in the summer and then again during the ODI series against South Africa at home just ahead of the World T20.

"You get 2-3 months off during the IPL, that's enough time for you to rest as a coach, other times, I think the coach should be hands-on, whoever he is," Shastri added.