Ravichandran Ashwin has come out in support of India head coach Rahul Dravid for agreeing to take a break from the ongoing tour of New Zealand.

In Dravid’s absence, VVS Laxman, the chief of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, is the stand-in head coach for the T20I and ODI series. The new-look T20I team is led by Hardik Pandya while Shikhar Dhawan is in charge of the ODI side.

“I will explain why Laxman has gone there with a completely different team because even that could be interpreted differently,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“Rahul Dravid and his team put in extensive hard work ahead of the T20 World Cup... right from planning. Since I saw this from close quarters, I’m saying this.

“They had specific in-depth plans for each venue and each opposition. So they would have been under not only mental but also physical burnout, and everyone needed a break. As soon as the New Zealand series ends, we have the Bangladesh tour. That’s why we have a different coaching staff led by Laxman for this tour.”

India made the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup before losing to eventual champions England.

Dravid’s predecessor Ravi Shastri has raised questions about the head coach taking frequent breaks especially when they get “two-three months” off during the IPL.

“I do not believe in breaks,” Shastri had said during an interaction ahead of the first T20I in Wellington. “Because I want to understand my team, I want to understand my players and I want to then be in control of that team.

“These breaks... what do you need that many breaks for to be honest?

You get your two-three months of the IPL; that’s enough for you to rest as a coach. But other times, I think a coach should be hands on, whoever he is.”

Dravid had been rested for a tour of Zimbabwe earlier this year as well. Before that, he and a number of other firstchoice players were allowed to focus on a Test match in England while a second-string T20I squad played against Ireland in Dublin.

Dravid also missed an ODI series at home against South Africa when the T20 World Cup squad was preparing for the World Cup in Australia. On all these occasions, Laxman had filled in for Dravid.

India’s tour of New Zealand includes three T20Is and three ODIs, the last of which will be held on November 30. India begin their tour of Bangladesh on December 4 with an ODI in Dhaka and DraRahul Dravid vid will be in charge then.