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Abhishek Nayar has been removed as India assistant coach just eight months after appointment.
Abhishek Nayar (left) with Rohit Sharma (center) and Gautam Gambhir during a training session last year. (PTI Photo)
In a major development, the BCCI has reportedly let go of assistant coach of the Indian men’s cricket team Abhishek Nayar eight months after the former allrounder was roped in to join coaching staff led by head coach Gautam Gambhir. The primary reasons been cited in various reports is the Indian team’s poor performances in Test cricket towards the end of the ICC World Test Championship cycle as they failed to qualify for the final.
However, a report in news agency PTI points towards there being more than what meets the eye. The report claims that Nayar may have become the ‘scapegoat’ in a turf war between a senior India cricketer and a key member of support staff.
“While India’s recent Test debacles (against New Zealand and Australia) has led to the churning but there is also a feeling in the BCCI that Nayar became a scapegoat in the turf war between an important member of the support staff and a senior star player,” a BCCI source told PTI.
The Indian team had appointed Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach after a review meeting just after the Australia tour. During the meeting, it was claimed that Nayar’s presence in the dressing room is proving to be “counter-productive”.
“…just after the tour of Australia, there was a review meeting conducted by the BCCI. The top officials of the board, including secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla, were present along with important members associated with the Indian team, and the national selectors,” the BCCI source said.
“On the sidelines of the meeting, a powerful member of the support staff expressed his apprehensions about Nayar’s presence and said how him being in the dressing room is proving to be counter-productive,” the source added.
Kotak’s appointment was allegedly to sideline Nayar.
“While the BCCI didn’t act immediately but they brought in Kotak, the former Saurashtra run-accumulator. It was a way of side-lining Nayar during the Champions Trophy,” the source claimed.
Additionally, the report claims Nayar wasn’t the first-choice assistant for head coach Gambhir when the appointments were being made.
