Udaipur, Oct 31, 2025: Ahead of IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have appointed Abhishek Nayar as their new head coach. KKR confirmed his appointment through a post on their social media account.

Abhishek Nayar becomes KKR’s head coach

Abhishek Nayar completed all the formalities for the head coach role with KKR on Thursday, Oct 30. The franchise officially announced his appointment in the evening through their X (formerly Twitter) handle. Nayar has worked with several top players, including Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Varun Chakravarthy and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

Nair Replaces Chandrakant Pandit

Abhishek Nair, who was the assistant coach of the Indian team and part of the support staff that won the 2025 Champions Trophy, will now replace Chandrakant Pandit as KKR’s head coach. KKR decided to part ways with Pandit after the team failed to qualify for the 2025 IPL playoffs.

Coaching Role in WPL

Abhishek Nair is also the head coach of the UP Warriors (UPW) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). He took over the role after John Lewis left in July 2025. With this, Nair will now serve as head coach for two different T20 franchise teams.

Abhishek Nair’s Cricket Career

Nair has represented the Indian cricket team in three ODIs as a fast-bowling all-rounder. He faced seven balls in one innings but did not score any runs. He bowled 18 balls, giving away 17 runs without taking a wicket. In the IPL, he has played 60 matches, scoring 672 runs and taking 9 wickets.