According to a report from Hindustan Times, Indian cricket team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir didn’t put up a fight when assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was let go. Gambhir had brought Nayar into his coaching team right after he took over as head coach. They had been on the same team before during their time with Kolkata Knight Riders, so they had a solid working relationship.
The decision to trim down Gambhir’s coaching staff came after a rough Test series against Australia, and despite Gambhir’s history with Nayar, he didn’t object. It seems his main focus was on retaining bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate, who are both coaches Gambhir handpicked himself. A source told Hindustan Times that Gambhir had to negotiate a lot to bring Morkel and Ten Doeschate into the team, so he wasn’t willing to lose them so quickly.
BCCI officials also got feedback from some of the senior players, and it turns out not everyone was thrilled about Nayar’s role in the dressing room. Nayar received a notice a few days ago that his contract wouldn’t be renewed.
It’s not just Nayar who is leaving; fielding coach T Dilip and Strength and Conditioning coach Soham Desai are also going after more than three years in their roles. The BCCI has set a new rule limiting support staff to a three-year term, so this change is in line with that. Word has it that Adrian Le Roux, who was India’s first-ever Strength and Conditioning coach, might be coming back for round two. He’s known for helping to create a strong fitness culture during the 2003 World Cup when Sourav Ganguly was leading the team.
When PTI reached out to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia for comments on these changes, he didn’t really dive into details. Instead, he said, “Some things are being finalized. You’ll get a press release from BCCI in a few days.”
As for Nayar, who is 41 and a former all-rounder known for being a reliable player in domestic cricket with 103 first-class games under his belt, didn’t reply to a text from PTI about this situation. It seems he’s still processing the news. All in all, it’s a time of big changes for the coaching staff as Gambhir and BCCI look to tweak things following a disappointing series.
