BCCI set for massive rejig ahead of England tour; Abhishek Nayar sacked after poor BGT series: Reports

The Indian cricket team is likely to see some new names in the backroom staff ahead of the England tour which begins in June. According to various reports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sacked coach Abhishek Nayar along with fielding coach T Dilip. Yet another name who has been cut is Soham Desai, who is the strength and conditioning coach of the team. 

The move comes after India’s horrendous run in the Test format in the last few months. New Zealand whitewashed India with a 3-0 margin in India and Australia won the Border-Gavaskar series with a 3-1 margin towards the end of the year. Former Saurashtra batter Sitanshu Kotak was appointed as the batting coach for the white-ball side. With Nayar gone, there is a good chance that Kotak could be asked to expand his role in the red-ball format as well. 

Reports also state that Ryan Ten Doeschate could be given temporary charge as the fielding coach of the side. Gautam Gambhir is set to fly down to England early with the India A side to kickstart the preparation for the five-Test tour of England. This will be the first assignment for India in the 2025-27 WTC cycle. 

Rohit Sharma reveals what happened ahead of the SCG Test in January

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was in conversation with former Aussie World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke recently. The two appeared in the Beyond 23 cricket podcast where Clarke asked Rohit to reveal why he had opted out of the SCG Test. Rohit revealed that the decision to opt out of the game also created an argument in the dressing room. 

Rohit said, “In the last Test match in Sydney, I had to be honest with myself. I was not hitting the ball well. And I didn't want to put myself there only because we had a lot of the other guys who were struggling as well. When you add yourself in there, it just becomes a little more... And we wanted Gill to play. He is such a good player. He missed out in the previous Test.”

“I spoke to the coach and the selector, who was there on the tour. They kind of agreed – not agreed. There was an argument around it. You try and put the team first and just look at what the team wants and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it may work; sometimes it may not. So that's how it goes.”