3 reasons why India sacking Abhishek Nayar as assistant coach is the wrong move
Amid the thrills and spills of the 2025 IPL season came stunning news regarding Team India when the BCCI terminated assistant coach Abhishek Nayar's contract on April 17. The termination came less than a year after Nayar was appointed India's assistant coach.
The news came after the BCCI's review meeting earlier this year, after India's dismal tour of Australia. Nayar was one of the support staff members handpicked by head coach Gautam Gambhir in July last year.
With a critical Test tour of England coming up after the 2025 IPL season, India have made the first colossal move with Nayar's removal in the hope of reviving their Test fortunes.
Yet, Nayar's sacking could be considered unfortunate and downright wrong in several ways.
In this feature, we look at the three main reasons why it was wrong for India to terminate Abhishek Nayar as the assistant coach.
# 1 Overall results warranted no change
As bad as India's performances in Tests were in the back-to-back losses against New Zealand at home and in Australia, a change in the support staff for the same remains baffling.
While the Test series defeats were massive and resulted in India's elimination from the World Test Championship (WTC) final, their domination elsewhere during Abhishek Nayar's stint cannot be ignored. India won 13 of their 15 T20Is, including four straight series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, and England.
The Men in Blue also won the 2025 Champions Trophy after whitewashing England 3-0 earlier this year. Considering the Champions Trophy triumph was India's most recent result, one wonders why there was even an instant change in any position.
It feels like a narrow-sighted move made solely for the two Test series losses, ignoring all the other outstanding results.
# 2 Scapegoated for failures elsewhere
Continuing from the previous section, should a change be made after the two consecutive embarrassing Test series defeats, was Abhishek Nayar the right man to go? A closer look reveals that some of the most accomplished Indian batters were woefully out of form against New Zealand and Australia.
There is an old saying in sports - 'The GOAT often needs a Scapegoat', which seems fitting in this instance. Some of the established stars falling off the cliff in Tests since the new support staff came into existence meant someone else (Nayar in this case) had to pay the price.
And Nayar is potentially the easiest scapegoat that would go unquestioned by fans and experts. There is only so much impact an assistant coach can have, good or bad, on a team's performance in such a short time. Hence, sacking Nayar feels like a move made as a bargain for the poor Test results while ensuring those who played a massive role in these failures remained unscathed.
# 3 Abhishek Nayar's proven connection with the players
Several players have sworn by Abhishek Nayar and spoken glowingly about his contributions to enhancing their game. After the Kolkata Knight Riders (KRR) triumphed in IPL 2024 with a dominant season, many players made it a point to praise the unsung Nayar for his efforts.
Ace spinner Varun Chakaravarthy said after KKR won the final (Via NDTV):
"All I can think of right now is the person who built this Indian core. The main guy behind this is Abhishek Nayar."
Star batter Venkatesh Iyer echoed Varun's sentiments, saying:
"Abhishek Nayar deserves all the credit in the world. Some of his contributions go unnoticed, I want to make sure it doesn't." (Via aforementioned source).
More recently, KL Rahul thanked Nayar for helping him evolve in white-ball cricket, saying (Via ESPN Cricinfo):
"Big shoutout to Abhishek Nayar. I've worked a lot with him ever since he's come into the Indian team."
It is not common to see star players willingly praising an assistant coach unless he is a real difference-maker. As precious as on-field results are, off-field culture setting and player-coach relationships are equally important in long-term team success.
Abhishek Nayar's incredible connection with several players and his proven credentials in the role make his axing this early into his tenure unfathomable.