In a major announcement ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, former Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar has been named as the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He has been a long-term member of the Kolkata setup and he will now be stepping into the top-coaching role for the three-time champions.
Nayar has served the key roles of – assistant coach and the head of KKR academy. But now he comes in the main coaching role and this will be vital in players and franchise development.
KKR had a very ordinary IPL season in 2025 and they failed to qualify for the playoffs. The team only managed to win five matches out of 14. The 42-year old’s joining doesn’t come as a surprise as he has been long associated with the franchise.
Abhishek Nayar is also a very close friend of Rohit Sharma and he helped him go through a complete transformation, where Sharma shed 10 kgs. Nayar was also the assistant coach of the Indian Team but in a review meeting earlier, the BCCI terminated his contract after Gautam Gambhir was picked as the head coach of India.
