Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nayar have been collaborating for a while now, and their partnership has continued into the ongoing IPL season ©BCCI/IPL
Behind Rohit Sharma's new-found success may lie the influence of a man recently let go by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Abhishek Nayar, until recently the assistant coach of the Indian team, had been working quietly behind the scenes with the India skipper before being reappointed by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Cricbuzz understands that Rohit and Nayar have been collaborating for a while now, and their partnership has continued into the ongoing IPL season. In fact, the day before Rohit's impactful 26 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 17 at the Wankhede Stadium, he was spotted working with Nayar at the Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) BKC facility.
Rohit followed up that brisk knock with a typically graceful and yet a whirlwind, unbeaten 76 at the Wankhede against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday (April 20) night, post which he posted an acknowledgement to Nayar on Instagram Stories. Rohit had been off-colour at the start of the season - with scores of 0, 8, 13, 17, and 18 - before ramping up his form with two impactful back-to-back innings.
Sources close to Rohit and Nayar, confirm that their collaboration has been ongoing, both prior to and during the current IPL season. Cricbuzz had previously reported that Rohit is planning to continue till the 2027 World Cup, and he is teaming up with Nayar to work on both his fitness and batting.
As recently reported, Nayar was released by the BCCI from the Indian team's support staff led by Gautam Gambhir. In fact, the BCCI has also let go of three others - fielding coach T Dilip, strength and conditioning trainer Soham Desai, and masseur Arun Kanade. Coincidentally or otherwise, all four are believed to be close to Rohit.
The general impression is that Nayar, widely respected in Indian cricketing circles for his grasp of modern coaching knowhow, has been blamed for Indian batters' underwhelming performance in the BGT series in Australia. The BCCI has since appointed Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach.
Whether the Rohit-Nayar association will continue for the rest of the IPL season remains a conjecture, given that Nayar has joined a rival franchise. For the record, Mumbai Indians and Knight Riders have already played (in Mumbai on March 31) once and are not scheduled to face each other in a return-leg fixture. Their only possible meeting could be in the knockouts.
Nayar's expertise is endorsed by many current players, including Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, apart from of course, Rohit. There is even some talk that some seniors are not too happy with the removal of Nayar. In fact, Rahul keeps working with Nayar in Mumbai whenever he is away from competitive cricket. After a strong performance, he publicly gave a shout-out to the former India and Mumbai all-rounder.
"Big shout out to Abhishek Nayar. I've worked a lot with him ever since he's come into the Indian team," Rahul had said after a match-winning knock for Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam recently. "We've spent hours and hours together talking about my white ball game and how I can be better. We've worked hours and hours together in Bombay, and I think somewhere I've found the fun in playing white-ball cricket.
© Cricbuzz
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