Abhishek Nayar and T Dilip sacked: After the disappointing performance in Border Gavaskar Trophy(BGT) it was inevitable that somebody had to bear the brunt of it. It’s now clear that Abhishek Nayar and T Dilip are the ones on whom the axe has fallen upon and BCCI has decided not to renew their contract which is going to end in June this year. Nayar and Dilip are currently serving as the assistant coach and fielding coach of Indian team respectively. Interestingly, Nayar’s removal comes just eight months after he assumed the role of assistant coach.
Other than these two, Strength and Conditioning (S&C) coach Soham Desai’s contract is also ending in June which will not be renewed. He will be replaced by South African sports scientist Adrian le Roux, who has a small history of working with the Indian team in the early 2000s. Le Roux was the strength and conditioning coach of the Indian men’s cricket team from January 2002 to May 2003.
BCCI sacks batting, fielding coaches after poor show in Border–Gavaskar Trophy and dressing room leaks
— Cricket Gyan (@cricketgyann) April 17, 2025
BCCI has removed assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, along with fielding coach T. Dilip and strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai, from their roles after India's 1-3 series… pic.twitter.com/QyZXloRcbo
Le Roux joined the South African team in the same capacity in June 2003 and remained with the side till August 2007, focusing on developing physical resilience, strength and agility. At the moment, Le Roux is working with the Punjab Kings, having joined the franchise in 2020. He was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders earlier, from 2008 to 2019, in a 12-year-long association.
Other members of the Gautam Gambhir-led support staff – batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate – will continue. Ten Doeschate will also assume the responsibilities of fielding coach after T Dilip’s departure.
Ironically, Nayar was recommended by Gautam Gambhir himself as both worked at the Kolkata Knight Riders team before coming to the Indian side but after repetitive failure of batters first in New Zealand series at home and then BGT in Australia, Abhishek and the entire coaching staff was under the scanner. Also, after the appointment of Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach, Abhishek Nayar’s role as a assistant coach didn’t have any purpose.
India lost six of their final 10 Tests including a historic 0-3 clean sweep at the hands of New Zealand at home and 1-3 drubbing at the hands of Australia in Border-Gavaskar Trophy, due to which their hopes for qualification were crushed from a position where they were easily looking to qualify for the WTC final. All the batsmen including greats like Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma were under immense pressure due to consecutive failures. Such was the state that India Test captain Rohit dropped himself from the playing XI for the fifth and final Test citing his own poor form.
According to a reports, Abhishek Nayar is likely to join the Kolkata Knight Riders after his sacking from the Indian Team. His contributions for KKR are highly valued by the franchise and hence the doors might be open for him. He joined the KKR team in 2018, and played a significant role in shaping careers of several stars including Rinku Singh. He was the assistant coach of the KKR side that won the IPL in 2024. There has been speculation that Dilip could take over as the Andhra coach. Being a Telugu native based in Hyderabad, he may have an offer from the state association.
“Just after the tour of Australia, there was a review meeting conducted by the BCCI. The top officials of the board, including secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla, were present along with important members associated with the Indian team, and the national selectors,” a BCCI source told PTI.
“On the sidelines of the meeting, a powerful member of the support staff expressed his apprehensions about Nayar’s presence and said how him being in the dressing room is proving to be counter-productive. While the BCCI didn’t act immediately, but they brought in Kotak, the former Saurashtra run-accumulator. It was a way of sidelining Nayar during the Champions Trophy,” the source added.
The much-awaited central contracts for the Indian team will be released soon where Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy may be included in the list as they qualify the laid down criteria by the BCCI. As per the BCCI standard policy, “athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis.”
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