Abhishek Nayar to join Indian Cricket Team as assistant coach, T Dilip to remain fielding coach – Reports

Abhishek Nayar worked closely with Gautam Gambhir in IPL 2024 for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Abhishek Nayar, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) assistant coach is set to join Gautam Gambhir in the Indian team support staff, which will take over from the Sri Lanka series onwards. Gambhir was officially revealed as the new Indian Cricket Team head coach on Tuesday.

Along with Rahul Dravid, the BCCI also bid farewell and thanked batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip in a statement on the website.

“The Board also congratulates Mr. Paras Mhambrey (Bowling Coach), Mr T. Dilip (Fielding Coach), and Mr Vikram Rathour (Batting Coach) on a highly successful tenure. The BCCI values their contribution and wishes them the best going forward,” the BCCI release stated.

Gautam Gambhir is reported to bring in his support staff members and the first name doing rounds is former Mumbai and India all-rounder Abhishek Nayar. Nayar has been instrumental in KKR’s success and was part of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title winning campaign.

At KKR, the two enjoy a solid working rapport, and Gambhir was searching for a coworker, who is reputed to be committed and take his work seriously. In addition to having a history of close ties to India captain Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar meets the bill in that regard.

It is anticipated that the former Mumbai all-rounder will be assigned to the role of assistant coach instead of batting coach specialist. Gambhir may himself take up the role of batting coach.

T Dilip likely to continue as fielding coach

Despite the BCCI bidding farewell to Rahul Dravid and his support staff, a Cricbuzz report has indicated that T Dilip might actually be retained as the fielding coach of the Indian team under Gautam Gambhir’s regime.

There have been no definitive decisions made on the bowling coach role. According to reports, Vinay Kumar and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who have collaborated with Gambhir at KKR previously, are among the names that the BCCI and Gambhir are reportedly considering.

But the Board may be looking for a more well-known applicant with a track record of successfully managing young players. There are chances that BCCI might opt for a foreign bowling coach, who can groom young pacers.

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