Gautam Gambhir Happy With Abhishek Nayar’s Sacking- Report

Although he actively participated in the hiring of Abhishek Nayar as a member of his support staff, India's head coach Gautam Gambhir was dissatisfied with the former all-rounder's performance and did not object to the BCCI's decision to terminate his contract early.

For unknown reasons, the Gambhir-Nayar combination, which was instrumental in the Kolkata Knight Riders' 10-year IPL title drought, didn't quite mesh in the Indian dressing room, according to sources close to the situation who spoke to Hindustan Times.

BCCI's sacking spree continues

This comes ahead of the five-match Test series in England in June, the BCCI has launched a huge crackdown on the Indian squad.

Four members of the backroom staff have reportedly been fired by the top Indian cricket organization due to their subpar performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the game's longest format against New Zealand at home.

Senior Indian players unhappy with Abhishek Nayar’s work

Abhishek Nayar's failure to establish a close relationship with some of the team's senior players hurt his cause. This is difficult to believe from a distance because the former India all-rounder has personally helped many of the best cricket players, including Dinesh Karthik, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Varun Chakaravarthy, improve their game.

In some instances, such as those involving Karthik and Chakravarthy, Abhishek Nayar played a crucial role in their careers' comeback. In reality, when Karthik was captain of KKR, he personally selected Nayar to be the assistant coach.

"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.

In addition to Abhishek Nayar, Gambhir suggested Morne Morkel as the bowling coach and Ryan ten Doeschate as the fielding coach. Fielding coach T Dilip's contract was extended since the board members and senior cricket players were pleased with his performance. That's where the issues started.

The board had to create an additional job in order to accommodate Gambhir's suggestions and retain Dilip as the fielding coach. Thus, a head coach was assigned two assistant coaches, Nayar and ten Doeschate, for the first time in Indian cricket history.

Gautam Gambhir didn’t oppose Abhishek Nayar’s sacking

The original suggestion from Gambhir was for Nayar to be the official batting coach. But the writing was on the wall following consecutive humiliating Test series defeats to Australia and New Zealand.

Sitankshu Kotak was named the batting coach by the BCCI following a review meeting with Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Kotak, who was with the NCA, traveled with the squad to the Champions Trophy and played in the white-ball home series against England. When the board decided to reduce Gambhir's support personnel, he didn't oppose.

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

Since Dilip's contract has also expired, Kotak will remain the batting coach, and the position of assistant coach is probably going to be eliminated. Ten Doeschate will take over as the fielding coach.

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