BCCI ends contract of India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar

BCCI Ends Abhishek Nayar’s Tenure as India Assistant Coach Following Test Performance Review
By Nagraj Gollapudi | April 17, 2025

The BCCI has terminated Abhishek Nayar’s contract as assistant coach of the Indian men’s national team, less than a year after his appointment.

Nayar becomes the first significant departure resulting from a performance review initiated by the BCCI in January, following India’s disappointing run in Test cricket at the end of last year. This included a 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand and a 3-1 defeat in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The review meeting, held in Mumbai after the Australia tour, involved head coach Gautam Gambhir, Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.

Nayar, a former Mumbai allrounder who played three ODIs for India, was selected by Gambhir, with whom he had previously worked at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during their IPL 2024 title-winning season. While Gambhir received a three-year contract extending to the 2027 ODI World Cup, Nayar’s contract duration was never officially confirmed.

Though he lacks domestic coaching experience, Nayar has built a strong reputation working individually with several Indian players, including Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi. Recently, KL Rahul credited Nayar for his progress in white-ball cricket.

Questions about Nayar's role surfaced in January when Sitanshu Kotak was appointed as batting coach for the England white-ball series. Kotak, along with Nayar, fielding coach T Dilip, and Ryan ten Doeschate, had also been part of India’s support staff at the Champions Trophy.

Adrian Le Roux to Return as Trainer

Adrian Le Roux, who served as India’s trainer in the early 2000s, is expected to rejoin in the same role. Currently with Punjab Kings in the IPL, Le Roux is set to replace Soham Desai, India's strength and conditioning coach since 2019. Le Roux previously worked with India from 2001 to 2003 and was known for elevating fitness standards alongside physiotherapist Andrew Leipus.

ESPNcricinfo has reached out to both Nayar and BCCI’s Devajit Saikia for comment.

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