KKR Set To Appoint Abhishek Nayar as Head Coach Ahead of IPL 2026 | Reports

Abhishek Nayar is set to get appointed as Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach for the IPL 2026 season.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have reportedly appointed Abhishek Nayar as the team’s head coach starting from the IPL 2026 season. According to The Indian Express, the franchise informed Nayar about its decision last week, and a formal announcement will be made soon.

Nayar entered the KKR set-up in 2018 as the head of their new initiative at the time, the KKR Academy in Mumbai. He coached several young players from the team there and built relationships with the likes of Rinku Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy, who still credit him for it.

ALSO READ | WATCH | After Two Ducks, Virat Kohli Celebrates First Run with a Fist Pump

Eventually, the former Mumbai all-rounder took up a role closer to the team as the batting coach and was part of the Chandrakant Pandit-led support staff that won IPL 2024, KKR’s third trophy. When the then-franchise mentor Gautam Gambhir was called up by the BCCI to become the head coach of the men’s team, he brought Nayar and fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate with him as assistant coaches.

However, even as Gambhir, ten Doeschate, and bowling coach Morne Morkel continued, Nayar was sacked by the national team earlier this year in what seemed like a decision taken in light of their major defeat in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Sitanshu Kotak is now the Indian team’s batting coach.

KKR and Nayar’s Bond

KKR roped Nayar back in the middle of the 2025 season, but he couldn’t wrest their bad momentum. The team, having missed out on retaining their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, had a poor auction and dramatically failed to put up a defense, finishing eighth with only five wins in 14 games.

Nayar would be a change of pace from Pandit, who was seen as a hard taskmaster with the image of being a domestic trophy-winning legend. Nayar doesn’t have any such distinguished achievements but has worked with former India captain Rohit Sharma and star players KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik, who all credit him for turning around some of the bad phases of their careers.

ALSO READ | WATCH | Vintage Rohit Sharma Lights Up Sydney with 33rd ODI Century

Earlier this year, Nayar was appointed the head coach of Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchise UP Warriorz, and it also needs to be seen if he has to give up that role to formally accept the IPL job.