Abhishek Nayar
Abhishek Nayar has been roped in KKR as their mentor. Photo Credit: Web.

Abhishek Nayar has been a stalwart in the domestic cricketing circuit. He has played for Mumbai with such authority over the years. He has been one of the mainstays of the Mumbai batting line-up for the last 13-14 years. During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Nayar spoke on a number of aspects. Starting from the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), Nayar also spoke on what changes he has seen in Dinesh Karthik in the last few years.

Nayar further revealed that how it is different from mentoring a team and to watch a tournament with a view of talent scouting.

The southpaw Nayar has been part of the Mumbai team in 99 first-class matches. He has also played 93 List A matches and 95 Twenty20s.

Nayar was also part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI). He also played for the Pune Warriors India (now defunct) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).

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Nayar has been part of the winning Ranji Trophy side on five occasions. He is currently the mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He was appointed as the mentor during the 2018 edition of the tournament.

Nayar is also the coach of the KKR academy. At present Nayar is part of the broadcasting crew for the ongoing TNPL.

CV Varun has impressed Nayar in the TNPL:

Abhishek Nayar Believes Dinesh Karthik Understand His Game Better
Abhishek Nayar lauds Dinesh Karthik as a professional. Image Courtesy: PTI

Nayar said that CV Varun has impressed him in the TNPL. Ever since I came, I think Varun has impressed me. I also saw another game when I was in Banglore where I liked the way he bowled, he’s obviously very new so people are still understanding what he is doing, but I think he’ll be tested more as the tournament goes ahead.

KB Arun Karthik is someone, who’s a senior, but I’ve liked the way he has approached this tournament with the responsibility with which he’s played, especially today when he played against very good sides.

Speaking about the talent scouting and being the coach of the KKR academy, he said that they are two different things. It’s a completely different thing.

“Well, I think mentoring cricketers and watching a league is completely different. Watching a league is more from the point of view as a scout. It is not something that’s gonna help me in what I do with the academy,” Nayar told Sportskeeda.

Abhishek Nayar has been working with Dinesh Karthik for a long time. He feels that the only change with Karthik in the last five years is his temperament and maturity. Otherwise, he feels Karthik is the same player.

Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik says India’s experience would be handy for Afghanistan in the one-off Test.

Dinesh hasn’t changed a lot:

“Well, to be honest, do I see any changes? Not really. I think he’s still the same Karthik that hasn’t changed. Yes, if there are some changes, he’s become little more mature, he understands his game a little more, but I feel the work we did together, I spoke a lot about it, but to keep it brief I think it was more about making him understand his potential, making him understand what he can do, he can’t do,” Nayar maintained.

 

“He’s still the same Dinesh Karthik, nothing has changed. He’s still gonna make mistakes, he’s still gonna do well at times, but I feel the consistency in the past two-three years has been tremendous and a lot of credit goes to him for his own preparation, his own belief in believing what we said could’ve helped him,” Nayar asserted.

India South Africa Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik has been named as the replacement for injured Wriddhiman Saha on the England tour. Image Courtesy: Getty Images 

“So, I feel in terms of what we did, we did a lot of different things where I felt I could’ve tweaked his game a bit, his mental aspect, make him feel better about himself, his own preparation and I think it’s a team effort altogether, so it’s not about what I did, it’s also what Dinesh Karthik has brought to the table as a cricketer,” he added.

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A Cricket Expert who loves revolving his life around the game. An extremely passionate music lover who loves singing and listening to Arijit Singh songs.