Nayar joined the Indian team’s backroom staff after Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach in July last year while Dilip has been part of the set up since Rahul Dravid’s tenure, and was given an extension for another year.
In a massive shakeup to the national cricket team’s support staff, the BCCI has parted ways with two of its coaching staff – assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and fielding coach T Dilip with immediate effect. Along with the duo, Sohum Desai, the strength and conditioning coach, is also being shown the door following the completion of his contract as the team is set to welcome back Adrian Le Roux for a second stint after almost 22 years.
The Statesman understands that the decisions were taken on the back of India’s miserable run in Test cricket late last year, beginning with the 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand followed by the 3-1 series defeat in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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Nayar joined the Indian team’s backroom staff after Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach in July last year while Dilip has been part of the set up since Rahul Dravid’s tenure, and was given an extension for another year.
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Shortly after India’s tour of Australia concluded, the BCCI convened a detailed review meeting in coordination with India head coach Gautam Gambhir. The meeting was also attended by Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, as they collectively assessed the team’s performance and mapped the road ahead.
The changes have largely come on expected lines. After the dismal show in Australia, the BCCI roped in Sitanshu Kotak as its new batting coach, rendering Nayar’s role virtually redundant.
Similarly, the appointment of Ryan ten Doeschate, who had been working in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) set-up as fielding coach also limited Dilip’s role. Ironically, Nayar was a recommendation of Gambhir himself as both worked at the KKR franchise before joining the national team.
Both Kotak and Nayar, along with ten Doeschate and Dilip, had also travelled to the Champions Trophy as part of Gambhir’s support staff.
It has been reliably learnt that there will be no new faces, barring Adrian le Roux, with the South African set to rejoin the Indian set-up as the new strength and conditioning coach. The other members of the Gambhir-led support staff are batting coach Kotak, bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach ten Doeschate will continue as India prepares for the all-important tour of England in June.
For Le Roux, who has been with the Punjab Kings setup for about seven years, it will be a homecoming as he had worked with the team in the early 2000s under head coach John Wright.
While the non-renewal of Dilip and Desai’s contracts aligned with the BCCI’s new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) limiting support staff roles to a three-year term, questions remain over the decision to relieve Abhishek Nayar, whose contract is valid until August, and given that the Mumbaikar continues to enjoy strong backing from several senior players in the squad.
41-year-old Nayar, a former all-rounder who played three ODIs, has worked on improving the batting of several international and uncapped Indian players, including Rohit, Dinesh Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Recently, KL Rahul also praised Nayar for his white-ball success, saying, “Big shoutout to Abhishek Nayar. I’ve worked a lot with him ever since he’s come into the Indian team.”
It remains to be seen whether Nayar returns to the KKR set-up after being relieved of his duties.
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