Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 19 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Abhishek Nayar has returned to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coaching set-up, announced the defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions on Saturday.

KKR made the announcement on X.

In a post on X, KKR wrote, 'Welcome back home, @abhisheknayar1'

https://x.com/KKRiders/status/1913559286132637967

Following a disappointing performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia, India decided to remove assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and fielding coach T Dilip.

BCCI sources informed ANI that assistant Batting coach Abhishek Naiyyar, fielding coach T Dilip, and Strength and Conditioning coach Soham Desai have been removed following India's poor performance in the BGT series and alleged dressing room leaks.

India suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, losing the opportunity to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord's.

India began the series with a historic win in Perth but failed to sustain its momentum and lost the series 1-3.

Nayar's role was scrutinised as the Board was not happy with the apparent 'Kolkata Knight Riders touch' in the team management.

Nayar and former Netherlands star Ryan Ten Doeschate joined Team India's support staff as assistant coaches during the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka last year. Nayar and Doeschate were also assistant coaches at KKR and worked with Gambhir and won the 2024 IPL title with him and captain Shreyas Iyer.

Currently, KKR is placed at number six in the points table halfway through their campaign, with three wins and four losses. Their previous match was a shambolic loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in which they were skittled out for 95 runs while chasing a target of 112 runs. Their next game will be against the Gujarat Titans (GT) at Eden Gardens on Monday. (ANI)