Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) assistant coach Abhishek Nair is likely to be appointed as one of the members of the Indian team's support staff. According to IndiaToday.in, Nair will join the Indian team on the Sri Lanka tour, which will be Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as the team's head coach. Nair, who has been with KKR for six years, has a history of helping Indian domestic players like Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik during difficult times.

Along with Nair, it is expected that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will also rope in another former KKR player – Ryan ten Doeschate, who is currently working as an assistant coach at the LAKR franchise in Major League Cricket in the United States of America (USA).

Both Nair and Doeschate have been in the KKR set-up at different times. At the same time, players like mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy have mentioned how Nair inspired the dressing room after a big defeat in the 2024 season of the IPL.

Chakraborty wrote on Twitter during the IPL, “It was very difficult after giving so many runs in the last match, but the whole team motivated us. Abhishek Nair and even Shahrukh Khan came to talk to me and they definitely motivated us.”

BCCI thanks the veterans

The Indian men's team support staff includes Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach), T. Dilip (fielding coach) and Vikram Rathore (batting coach), who will not be a part of the Gambhir era. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the decision through a press release on Tuesday, i.e. July 9, in which the organization congratulated the trio for a highly successful tenure with the Indian team. The BCCI also thanked Rahul Dravid for nurturing young talent and taking India to three finals in three ICC tournaments in the 2023/24 cycle.