Just two days after his stint as assistant coach of the Indian men’s team ended, Abhishek Nayar has returned to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2025. The franchise confirmed his comeback ahead of their match against the Gujarat Titans at Eden Gardens on Saturday, April 19.

Nayar’s exit from the national team was part of a major reshuffle by the BCCI following India’s poor run in Test cricket. India suffered a 0-3 defeat at home to New Zealand and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3. Nayar had joined the Indian setup in July 2024 as assistant to head coach Gautam Gambhir. Along with him, fielding coach T Dilip and fitness coach Soham Desai were also informed that their contracts wouldn’t be renewed. A senior BCCI official personally called each of them, stating that the board was cutting down the size of the support staff.

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KKR Welcomes Back a Key Architect of Their 2024 Title Win

Nayar's return to KKR is no surprise. He was in their support staff from 2018 to 2024 and was instrumental in their IPL title triumph last year – KKR's first in a decade. He also captained the KKR academy and guided several established and young Indian players such as Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

He was spotted at Eden Gardens on Saturday when KKR were getting ready for their upcoming game. He is part of a good support staff consisting of head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun, spin coach Carl Crowe, mentor Dwayne Bravo, and assistant coach Ottis Gibson. KKR are currently sixth on the table with three wins in seven matches and will look for Nayar's return to better their season. In a smaller but related move, the BCCI also released team masseur Arun Kanade as part of its support staff changes. With Nayar back in the mix, KKR will look to regain rhythm and push for another shot at the IPL trophy.