Abhishek Nayar appointed by KKR to replace head coach Chandrakant Pandit for IPL 2026

The IPL 2024 Champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, have announced Abhishek Nayar, the former Indian national coach, as their new head coach, replacing former head coach Chandrakant Pandit for the upcoming season of the IPL.   

The Indian Express has learned through its sources that the appointment call was made last week, and only the formal announcement is awaited to be made by the KKR management. Nayar had, anyway, served as the support staff in the KKR dugout on several previous occasions.  

Abhishek Nayar replaces former KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit 

After a disappointing season last time in IPL 2025, the Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions from 2024, failed to advance into the playoffs. While some held the departure of Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir as the sole reason for it, some blamed the head coach, Chandrakant Pandit, for poor team selection and mismanagement. 

KKR's ordinary runs found them winning only 5 games after they had played 14 league matches under skipper Ajinkya Rahane and new mentor Dwayne Bravo, who was appointed following Gautam Gambhir's exit. 

Nayar has been largely known for his scouting abilities and his contribution to the comeback of several star cricketers after a bad patch in their careers. Recently, he was spotted alongside former Mumbai teammate Rohit Sharma in his remarkable fitness journey, where he claimed to have lost a huge amount of weight. 

The 42-year-old would mark his second head coach deal of his career, after having led the UP Warriorz in 2025 as their head coach in the Women's Premier League (WPL). It will be interesting to see if he continues to lead the two different franchises in two separate leagues. 

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