Ajinkya Rahane puts his arms around Abhishek Nayar on his return to KKR after getting sacked by BCCI: 'Thank you...'

Abhishek Nayar has officially made his comeback into the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) setup. The former batter's return to the KKR support staff was announced shortly before it emerged that he was sacked as India's assistant coach. The defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions posted a video on their X handle showing Nayar in his first nets session. Abhishek Nayar was key to KKR winning the title last season. (KKR X)

Nayar can be seen walking onto the field with captain Ajinkya Rahane. He is told, "Welcome back, coach" by the person operating the camera, to which Nayar replies: "Thank you. Appreciate it. Good to be back." The former India and Mumbai all-rounder is then seen interacting with head coach Chandrakant Pandit before talking to Rinku Singh and overseeing his nets session in the video.

Here is the video:

Nayar was handpicked by Gautam Gambhir to be a key member of his support staff when he took over as head coach last year after India's succesfull 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. The pair had played a key role in KKR lifting their first IPL title in over a decade just months earlier, with Gambhir being a player mentor and Nayar being part of the coaching staff.

While Gambhir recently led India to victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy, his reign has also been marked with an alarming drop in the batting form of key players in Test cricket. India were thus stunned to an unprecedented 3-0 whitewash at home by New Zealand and their subsequent 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia led to them failing to qualify for the World Test Championship Final for the first time ever.

It was learnt that Gambhir himself was not satisfied with the Nayar's performance and did not oppose the BCCI's decision to end his contract prematurely. What didn't help Nayar's cause was his inability to form a strong bond with some of the senior members of the team.

This is in stark contrast to what players had said about Nayar's role in KKR winning the title last season. Varun Chakravarthy, who was KKR's leading wicket-taker, said in an interview after the final that it was Nayar who built the "Indian core" of the team. "All I can think right now is of the person who built this Indian core: Abhishek Nayar," he said.

Venkatesh Iyer, who was the hero with the bat for KKR in the final, with an unbeaten 52 in just 26 balls, said that some things go unnoticed when the team tastes success, but he makes sure Nayar gets the credit he deserves. "As Varun mentioned, credit has to go to Abhishek Nayar. You know certain things go unnoticed. I'll make sure that they don't go because that guy deserves all the credit in the world for the way he's been working for this franchise," Iyer had said.

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