KL Rahul has been a consistent player in the white-ball format, especially in the 50-over version of the game. There were always questions hanging around his neck about his strike rate. Abhishek Nayar, who served as the coach when Gautam Gambhir took over, revealed that the first instruction Indian ODI captain Rohit Sharma gave to him was to make Rahul imbibe a more aggressive style of batting.
“When I first picked up that role, I remember I had a conversation with Rohit, and he said that one of the things he was really keen on me doing was working with KL and bringing out a more aggressive outlook to how KL played the game, and bringing the best out of him,” said Nayar speaking on ESPN cricinfo
“All I can tell you is, the way I’ve always tried to handle things is to first try and address the skill, and then use the skill as a medium to address the mind. That’s as much as I can tell you in terms of details. It’s about using practice to give his mind reassurance with the plan that we have, and what he needs to do to execute it,” Nayar said on how he helped Rahul to change his approach.
Sacked from Indian team, Abhishek Nayar returned to KKR
A few days after he was removed as assistant coach of the Indian team, Abhishek Nayar is all set to join Kolkata Knight Riders as one of the support staff. Nayar had earlier worked for KKR and was their main man behind the scenes, taking care of grooming players in the academy.
This newspaper reported, the batting group’s continued failures in Test cricket at home and abroad had put the spotlight on Nayar’s role. It is understood that during the review meeting conducted soon after the Australia tour, Nayar’s role was questioned by multiple voices in the team management, while feedback was sought from players too. This is also the first instance of the BCCI stepping in to terminate a contract of a support staff handpicked by the head coach.
