India cricket team batter Shreyas Iyer has jumped to the defence of under fire assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. The latter is reportedly under the scrutiny of the BCCI following India’s series loss to New Zealand and Australia. While reports earlier claimed that the board had sought feedback on Nayar from senior players, Iyer has backed the assistant coach, explaining how he was different from other coaches.
Shreyas Iyer defends under fire Abhishek Nayar
Speaking to The Indian Express in an interview, Iyer revealed that Nayar focused on understanding the player’s background and how they react to a certain situation rather than talking to them about their mindset. He said that the assistant coach then uses the understanding to execute particular ideas during practice.
“Abhishek doesn’t talk to the players much about their mindset. He just tries to make each and every one comfortable around him. And he tries to gain knowledge about the background they come from, their mindset, how they react in a given situation. And culminating all these factors, he tries and executes certain things while practising with them. So, I think that’s his forte as a coach,” Iyer said.
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Iyer further revealed that Nayar never insisted on changing a player’s technique while he gave them tips on how to bat. He explained that the latter’s ability to allow the players to enjoy the sport more than overthinking made him different from other coaches.
“And whenever he gives you a point, or whenever he tries to improve something in your skills, he won’t be hell-bent towards changing your technique or anything. He would let you be yourself. And he would let you enjoy the sport more than thinking or overthinking about a particular point. And that’s one of the best things about him that makes him a bit different from other coaches,” Iyer added.
In the backdrop of Nayar coming under the radar of the BCCI, the board decided to appoint Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach. Reports had earlier stated that the board was mulling to add a batting coach to the support staff in order to enhance the team’s batting – which has been a let down in the recent past. Kotak has joined the Indian side ahead of IND vs ENG T20I series and is expected to work with the team for the ODIs and Champions Trophy as well.
