The former India all-rounder was appointed as India's batting coach last July
Less than a week after being sacked as India’s batting coach by the BCCI, Abhishek Nayar is back in familiar surroundings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
The franchise has made it official about Nayar returning midway through IPL 2025 even though the BCCI has made any announcement about terminating his contract as head coach Gautam Gambhir’s staff.
Nayar was appointed a member of the coaching staff in July last year after the 2024 T20 World Cup when Vikram Rathour’s contract ended alongside head coach Rahul Dravid.
Despite winning the recent Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai and white-series victories against South Africa, Bangladesh and England, Nayar faced the axe due to India’s red-ball failures in the past season.
India beat Bangladesh but they were whitewashed at home 0-3 by New Zealand while their journey Down Under for the Border-Gavaskat Trophy 2024-25 saw them lose the series 1-3.
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Despite a strong collective effort in the first Test win in Perth, the Indian batting floundered in the next four matches as Australia won the BGT after ten years.
The BCCI had appointed former Saurashtra batter Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach before the England white-ball series before the Champions Trophy while Nayar was part of the coaching staff.
Nayar, who has played three ODIs for India in 2009, was part of seven IPL seasons with Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab (Now Punjab Kings), Pune Warriors India and Rajasthan Royals. Soon after his retirement as a player, Nayar began his journey as a coach with the KKR academy for many years before becoming a part of Gambhir and Chandrakant Pandit’s coaching staff at KKR last year when they won the IPL for the third time.
KKR are currently sixth in the table with three wins and four losses. Their form under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy has been wobbly, managing to win two games in a row just once.
However, Nayar’s return to the franchise in such a quick time without a cooling off period will raise eyebrows.
KKR will next face Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday.
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