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Abhishek Nair to replace Chandrakant Pandit as KKR head coach ahead of IPL 2026

Former Indian national team assistant coach Abhishek Nair has been appointed the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders as he replaces Chandrakant Pandit in the camp of the former champions. This is a big development after he was sacked from the post of India’s assistant coach.

Abhishek Nair has been an inspirational name in the game of cricket, as he has shaped the careers of many cricketers over the years as their personal guru. He had a huge role in reviving the career of former wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, while he was recently a part of Rohit Sharma’s inspiring weight loss journey.

He also earned praise from Indian batsman KL Rahul for shaping his development as a white-ball cricketer during his stay in the Indian team as well as during his domestic cricket days.

Abhishek Nair appointed as the new head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders

Former Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nair has been appointed as the new head coach of IPL 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders. He replaced former coach Chandrakant Pandit after KKR failed to make the playoffs in IPL 2025.

According to The Indian Express, Nair was removed from the role in India’s support staff earlier this year, and with an announcement from KKR coming soon, the decision was likely taken last week.

The 42-year-old has previously worked for Kolkata Knight Riders in several stints. He will be joining mentor Dwayne Bravo for the upcoming season.

Abhishek Nair takes over as head coach for the WPL franchise

Having earlier been dropped from the India national cricket team by the BCCI following its review meeting which had terminated the contracts of the support staff selected by head coach Gautam Gambhir, she immediately landed a role with the Women’s Premier League giants.

He replaced former coach John Lewis and expressed his views soon after his appointment. The Warriors have failed to deliver promising performances in three seasons in the WPL, and hence, Nair had focused his mindset on building a strong team and instilling a winning mentality.

He had said, “The opportunity is to create a culture where everyone understands that this franchise plays to win trophies, and try to bring that mentality into our ecosystem.” It will be interesting to see whether he continues in both the roles with the IPL role rather than the status in the WPL.

Just days after Abhishek Nair was removed from his role in the Indian team by the BCCI, he returned to be appointed by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Interestingly, even before his ouster from the Indian team, there was talk of his return to KKR.

On his return to KKR, Nair had expressed his deep affection for the franchise and his respect for the team, which was symbolic of him returning so soon. He had then said that KKR is like a family to him and the speed with which he came back to the team is proof of this.

Also read: BCCI issues official statement after Australian women cricketers were molested in Indore

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