Abhishek Nayar had a fight with Virat Kohli? Sensational update out on sacking

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly sacked assistant coach Abhishek Nayar from the support staff despite the team's victory in the Champions Trophy 2025. Notably, head coach Gautam Gambhir did not oppose the decision to sack Abhishek Nayar, despite sharing a strong bond with him.

Gautam Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar played a key role in ending the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 10-year IPL title drought last year. Nayar played three ODI matches for the India national cricket team in his career. He was brought in as Team India's assistant coach on Gambhir’s recommendation.

Senior Batters Unhappy with Abhishek Nayar's Role in the Dressing Room

According to a Hindustan Times report, the partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar did not work well in the Indian dressing room. The report also mentioned that Nayar failed to establish strong relationships with some senior players.

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"The board officials took feedback from senior cricketers, and some were not happy with Nayar's role inside the dressing room. He was informed about the non-renewal of his contract a few days ago," a BCCI source told Hindustan Times.

However, this is surprising given Nayar's history of working with cricketers. He helped Dinesh Karthik, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Varun Chakravarthy improve their performances. Karthik even selected Nayar as assistant coach during his time as Kolkata Knight Riders' captain.

Also read: Another Team India member sacked by BCCI after Abhishek Nayar, T Dilip and Soham Desai

Team India Has Struggled in Test Cricket Under Gautam Gambhir

The BCCI allows the head coach to pick his support staff. Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the head coach after India’s T20 World Cup victory. Gambhir recommended Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coaches, along with Morne Morkel as the bowling coach.

However, the board decided to retain T. Dilip as the fielding coach due to his good performance and ongoing contract. To accommodate Gambhir's picks, the BCCI made it the first time in Indian cricket history that a head coach had two designated assistant coaches: Nayar and ten Doeschate.

Team India struggled to perform in Test cricket. It started with their 3-0 whitewash Test series defeat against New Zealand at home. Notably, it was their first-ever whitewash in the format. The Men in Blue went on to lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series by a margin of 1-3 in Australia.

Gautam Gambhir Didn't Oppose Abhishek Nayar's Sacking

Following the losses, the BCCI appointed Sitangshu Kotak as the new batting coach. Kotak, who was previously with the National Cricket Academy (NCA), had been involved with the team during the white-ball series against England and the Champions Trophy.

The report added that Gambhir did not object when the board chose to trim his support staff. Gambhir accepted the decision regarding Nayar's dismissal.

"Gambhir didn't oppose (to Nayar's sacking). He had to go through a lot of negotiations to bring ten Doechate and Morkel on board. There was no way he was going to let them go this early," the source added.

Also read: BCCI locks decision on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah's Central Contracts Grade