Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has described the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as “family” while reflecting on his return to the setup during IPL 2025. Nayar, who recently named as the new full-time head coach of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) side UP Warriorz, shared his thoughts on the fresh opportunity ahead of him.
After India’s defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Nayar was relieved of his role as Team India’s assistant coach. However, even before the official announcement came through, he was already seen working with KKR during the IPL season — a team he has been closely associated with in the past.
Speaking to PTI about the bond he shares with the Kolkata-based franchise, Nayar said:
“KKR is family to me. Everyone throws his weight way too much around the fact that it’s family, but for me, I think it’s family because the speed at which I came back [to the team] was a testament to the fact that that’s where I belong in a lot of ways.”
Now stepping into a new challenge with UP Warriorz in the WPL, Nayar is keen to bring a winning mentality to the franchise.
“I’ve always looked at anything as opportunities, and this is an opportunity, which I’m very, very excited for in that regard. The opportunity is to create a culture where everyone understands that this franchise plays to win trophies, and try and bring that mentality into our ecosystem.”
Nayar also shared his thoughts on the progress of women’s cricket in India and how the WPL is already making a positive impact.
“WPL will impact not only Indian cricket, but also Indian domestic cricket. It is very different from the first year in a WPL trial, where I felt many people were more touch players. Now you can see so much more power entering the game. You can see the girls diving around, throws are flat, throws are faster. There’s enormous growth and that’s not going to stop,” he concluded.
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