Why Abhishek Nayar's sacking from the Indian team was imminent since January

Indian team's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar's sacking was imminent since Sitanshu Kotak joined the support staff as an additional batting coach in January. "Just after the tour of Australia, there was a review meeting conducted by the BCCI. The top officials of the board, including secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla, were present along with important members associated with the Indian team, and the national selectors," a BCCI source told PTI.

"On the sidelines of the meeting, a powerful member of the support staff expressed his apprehensions about Nayar's presence and said how him being in the dressing room is proving to be counter-productive. "While the BCCI didn't act immediately but they brought in Kotak, the former Saurashtra run-accumulator. It was a way of side-lining Nayar during the Champions Trophy," the source added.



Reportedly, Nayar was not the first-choice assistant for head coach Gautam Gambhir when the appointments were finalised. He was roped in to act as a bridge between Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. Rohit shares a close friendship with Nayar since they have represented Mumbai in the domestic circuit together.

Nayar and fielding coach T. Dilip are said to be the Indian captain's most trusted lieutenants, and it is still unclear if Rohit has been kept in the loop by the BCCI decision makers about this topic. Nayar and Dilip have been the Indian skipper's "most trusted lieutenants" and it is not known whether Rohit was kept in the loop by the BCCI mandarins about these decisions.

India's next major assignment is the five-match Test series in England after the conclusion of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team will be raring to spark a comeback after they fell 3-1 to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year..