KKR appoints Abhishek Nayar as head coach for IPL 2026

On Thursday, October 30, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) appointed former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar as the head coach for the forthcoming IPL 2026 season. Notably, this move came ahead of the IPL retention deadline, which is set on November 15.

Importantly, Nayar was earlier part of the KKR set-up during the successful IPL 2024 season, when KKR defeated SRH to lift the silverware. He acted as an assistant coach to Chandrakanth Pandit in IPL 2024.

He was later part of the Indian coaching set-up as an assistant coach for Gautam Gambhir before his contract was terminated by the BCCI in April 2025. Most recently, he was also appointed as a head coach by the Women's Premier League franchise, UP Warriors.

"Abhishek has been a vital part of the Knight Riders setup since 2018, shaping our players both on and off the field. His understanding of the game and connection with players have been key to our growth. We're thrilled to see him take over as Head Coach and lead KKR into its next chapter,”  KKR CEO Venky Mysore said.

The 42-year-old Nayar played for a lot of years with Mumbai and represented the Indian team in three ODIs in 2009, but has an exceptional resume in terms of coaching. After he retired from professional cricket in 2019, Nayar was appointed as the lead coach of the KKR academy in 2018. Moreover, he also served as the Trinbago Knight Riders’ head coach in CPL 2022.

KKR finished the IPL 2025 season at the eighth rank with only five wins. After the disappointing end to the season, KKR parted ways with coach Chandrakanth Pandit. Also, bowling consultant Bharat Arun and spin-bowling consultant Carl Crowe moved to the Lucknow Super Giants franchise. However, mentor Dwayne Bravo remains in the existing coaching set-up.

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