Rohit Sharma mentions Abhishek Nayar days after sacking; BCCI faces backlash: 'Made him a scapegoat'

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma posted an Instagram story for recently sacked batting coach Abhishek Nayar, crediting him for returning to form after his match-winning knock for the Mumbai Indians on Sunday night. Rohit, who had a rough start to the IPL season, regained his mojo against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium. The swashbuckling opener smashed 76 runs off 45 balls, which was embellished with 4 fours and 6 sixes. Rohit Sharma thanked Abhishek Nayar after scoring a fifty vs CSK.(Instagram/@abhisheknayar)

A day after his match-winning knock, Rohit shared a photo of himself from the game celebrating his fifty on his Instagram story and thanked Nayar in the caption.

Rohit shared a great camaraderie with Nayar, and several reports suggested that he was a big advocate of the KKR assistant coach while convincing the BCCI to hire him for the Indian team's coaching staff. However, after a forgettable batting show in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI decided to sack Nayar from the position.

Apart from Nayar, fielding coach T Dilip, and the conditioning coach Soham Desai, following a performance review in the wake of India's dismal run in Test cricket.

Nayar had the backing of Rohit and other key batters like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who had often praised his efforts with them in the tough times. Despite that, his future became uncertain after the BCCI brought in Sitanshu Kotak as batting coach for the England white-ball series earlier this year.

The fans on social media lashed out at the BCCI for making Nayar a scapegoat for recent Test failures.

The BCCI didn't issue official communication regarding Nayar's termination, but his return to the KKR coaching set-up put a stamp on it.

KL Rahul also credits Abhishek Nayar for his white-ball redemption

Recently, Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul also praised Nayar for helping to find the fun back in playing white-ball cricket.

"Big shout out to Abhishek Nayar. I've worked a lot with him ever since he's come into the Indian team," Rahul had said after a match-winning knock for Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam recently. "We've spent hours and hours together talking about my white ball game and how I can be better. We've worked hours and hours together in Bombay, and I think somewhere I've found the fun in playing white-ball cricket.

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