The Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma came out in public support of Abhishek Nayyar, days after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to terminate his contract as the assistant coach of the national team. While this decision is yet to be confirmed by the Indian cricket governing body, it was revealed through various reports.

Infact, Nayyar re-joined the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) support staff on Saturday (April 19) in the middle of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which all but confirmed that Nayyar no longer has a contract with the BCCI. It is worth noting that coaching staff members of the Indian team are not allowed to work with an IPL franchise.

The decision to part ways with Nayyar has sparked debate, and Rohit's latest post will add fuel to fire over whether the Indian captain was on board with the decision to let him go from the coaching staff. Post his first half-century of the 2025 IPL against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rohit took to Instagram and thanked Nayyar.

A recent report by Cricbuzz revealed that Rohit has been working with Nayyar in recent days was spotted training with him at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) facility last year before MI's clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Rohit and Nayyar, who started off as teammates at Mumbai, share a close friendship for a number of years. In the past, Rohit has credited the ex-Mumbai Indians (MI) cricketer for his career turnaround post being dropped from India's 2011 World Cup squad.

Recently, KL Rahul had also expressed gratitude towards Nayyar after his impressive start to the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Delhi Capitals (DC). Rahul and Nayyar were spotted training together in Mumbai in between the 2025 Champions Trophy and 2025 IPL.

Several reports have claimed that Nayyar's sacking has come due to India's dismal display with the bat in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). The writing was on the wall after Sitanshu Kotak was added as batting coach to India's support staff ahead of the England series and CT.

Nayyar joined the Indian team last year after Gautam Gambhir's appointment as the head coach. Nayyar and Ryan Ten Doeschate were appointed assistant coaches, while Morne Morkel joined in as the bowling coach.

Nayyar and Gambhir worked together during KKR's IPL 2024 triumph. While Gambhir was part of KKR's support staff for just one season, Nayyar joined them in 2018 on Dinesh Karthik's recommendation.

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