Days before Abhishek Nayar was fired from his job as assistant coach of the India Cricket Team, KL Rahul gave him a public shoutout. Days later, India captain Rohit Sharma did the same. Another star batter, Shreyas Iyer, has acknowledged his contribution. Even Dinesh Karthik credited his resurgence to Nayar. Then, why did BCCI fire the most-trusted coach in Indian cricket at present? The reasons remain speculative.
However, Rohit Sharma has once again acknowledged Nayar’s contributions in bringing him back to form. After Rohit slammed a fluent 46-ball 75 against Chennai Super Kings, he posted on his Instagram channel, thanking Nayar. Rohit has been working with Nayar for a long time now. Even before Nayar was reappointed as a coach at KKR, he was working with Rohit at the BKC facility in Mumbai.
Rohit Sharma thanked Abhishek Nayar for last night's knock against Chennai – Ro, A lovely gesture. pic.twitter.com/G2ecrb4KOe
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 21, 2025Players’ testimonies
A few days ago, KL Rahul, also struggling to reinvent himself in T20 cricket, credited his newfound form to Abhishek Nayar.
“Big shout out to Abhishek Nayar. I’ve worked a lot with him ever since he’s come into the Indian team. We’ve spent hours and hours together talking about my white ball game and how I can be better. We’ve worked hours and hours together in Mumbai. I think somewhere I’ve found the fun in playing white-ball cricket,” KL Rahul had said after scoring a match-winning 77 against Chennai Super Kings.
Days before IPL 2025 began, Shreyas Iyer echoed similar sentiments. He acknowledged Nayar’s support.
“See, when I am in lows in my life, only a few people message me. And their names are Praveen Amre Sir and Abhishek Nayar. Because these people have always seen me since my young days. When something is going well, then stay normal. But when something goes bad, then they are very good with me. So, I appreciate such a kind of mentality. And if such people are around you, then you will definitely grow,” Iyer said.
Why was Abhishek Nayar sacked?
That raises the question: why was Nayar sacked if he had helped players individually? The reasons are not clear and will never be clear. While there are suggestions that BCCI wanted to trim down the coaching roles ahead of India Tour of England and Nayar was made scapegoat for the failure in Australia tour, there have been reports of a rift too.
Poor Test performance: India’s dismal run in the 2024-25 Test season, including a 0-3 home whitewash against New Zealand and a 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, triggered a BCCI review. These defeats cost India a spot in the World Test Championship final. Abhishek Nayar, responsible for batting, was criticised for the team’s batting failures, with senior players like Rohit Sharma (31 runs, average 6.20) and Virat Kohli (190 runs, average 23.75) struggling. Internal rift? – Reports suggested that Nayar became a scapegoat in a “turf war” between a high-profile support staff member and a senior star player. His presence was deemed “counter-productive” in the dressing room. A BCCI source indicated that during a review meeting post-Australia tour, a powerful team management figure raised concerns about Nayar’s role, leading to his sidelining. It must be noted that India head coach Gautam Gambhir brought Nayar in. Appointment of Sitanshu Kotak: BCCI promoted Sitanshu Kotak as batting coach in January 2025 after his tenure with the NCA and U19 setup. However, the man who was supposed to rectify Indian batters’ batting approach said he wanted to learn from Rohit and Virat despite their repeated mistakes on the Australia tour. KKR influence? – There is a KKR influence in the Indian Cricket Team. Gambhir, Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel were all part of the KKR setup in IPL. There have been reports of the BCCI being unhappy with KKR’s influence in the dressing room. Dressing room leaks: The leaks from the Indian dressing room on the Australia tour did not go down well. Many pointed fingers were pointed at Nayar and his close connections with the media. But it remains speculation with no evidence to believe such rumours.Was firing Nayar a mistake?
A coach who helps players and brings them back to form should be celebrated. However, that hasn’t been the case here. Nayar will continue to work with Indian players on a personal capacity. But him being with Team India would have definitely helped.
Shouldn’t BCCI promote home-grown talents like Nayar instead of relying on overseas expertise like Doeschate? Maybe.
While some might argue that Nayar is more successful as a white-ball coach than red-ball, the Mumbai batter has over 5500 runs in first-class cricket. Given the time, he could have been successful in turning things around. But BCCI gave him an eight-month tenure.
The BCCI could have also noticed his white-ball success as India won the ICC Champions Trophy. But in the end, Abhishek Nayar is India Cricket Team’s loss and Kolkata Knight Riders’ gain.
Did BCCI make a mistake by sacking Abhishek Nayar? Inside Sport India.
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