File photo of Abhishek Nayar and Gautam Gambhir.© AFP
Abhishek Nayar, Indian cricket team assistant coach, who was recently sacked by the BCCI has joined a new team. The after-shock of India’s Border Gavaskar Trophy loss against Australia was felt on Wednesday as sources claimed that the Rohit Sharma-led team’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has been sacked despite being only eight months into his tenure with the national side. Also, trainer Soham Desai and fielding coach T Dilip would not continue in their respective roles.
Now, Nayar has joined Kolkata Knight Riders. Nayar was earlier associated with the IPL team when Gautam Gambhir was the mentor. The two forged a brilliant partnership which saw KKR win the IPL 2024.
Welcome back home, @abhisheknayar1 pic.twitter.com/IwJQTnAWxa
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 19, 2025
While most reports claimed that Nayar was being removed after India’s poor show on the Tour of Australia, news agency PTI came up with an interesting detail.
A report by PTI claimed that Nayar’s removal was on the cards after Sitanshu Kotak was added to the Indian team’s support staff as an additional batting coach.
“…just after the tour of Australia, there was a review meeting conducted by the BCCI. The top officials of the board, including secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla, were present along with important members associated with the Indian team, and the national selectors,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the news agency.
“On the sidelines of the meeting, a powerful member of the support staff expressed his apprehensions about Nayar’s presence and said how him being in the dressing room is proving to be counter-productive.
“While the BCCI didn’t act immediately but they brought in Kotak, the former Saurashtra run-accumulator. It was a way of side-lining Nayar during the Champions Trophy,” the source added.
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