Abhishek Nayar is poised to join the Kolkata Knight Riders as a support staff member, just days after being fired as the Indian team’s assistant coach. Nayar was KKR’s principal guy behind the scenes, managing the academy’s player development. He had previously worked for the team.
As this newspaper has previously documented, Nayar’s role has come under scrutiny due to the batting group’s ongoing domestic and international Test cricket failures. It is known that some team management voices questioned Nayar’s involvement during the review meeting held shortly after the Australia tour, and players were also asked for their opinions. This is also the first instance of the BCCI stepping in to terminate a contract of a support staff handpicked by the head coach.
Abhishek Nayar, fielding coach T Dilip, and conditioning coach Soham Desai were all fired by the Indian board. A new masseuse will also be joining the Indian squad for the England tour. The BCCI executives made the judgments after reviewing the Border-Gavaskar series fiasco.
Nayar’s contract was reportedly up for renewal in June, but the board decided to make the changes now before the squad was chosen because the team would be traveling to England for a five-match Test series.
Nayar has been viewed as the liaison between the coach and the player ever since the new coaching staff took over for the Sri Lankan tour. In addition to having a positive relationship with skipper Rohit Sharma, Nayar has previously been credited by players like Dinesh Karthik and Venkatesh Iyer for their success in the white-ball format. Varun Chakaravarthy gave Nayar credit for his return to the Indian team even in the current lineup, while more recently, KL Rahul hailed the 41-year-old former Mumbai and India all-rounder with his improved play.
However, batting great Sunil Gavaskar had questioned Nayar’s role shortly after India’s defeat to New Zealand in the Test series at home. What part does Abhishek Nayar play in the team when it comes to batting? He had asked, “Is he an assistant coach or a batting coach?”
