Kolkata, Oct 31: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday announced Abhishek Nayar as the team’s new head coach ahead of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Nayar, who was the team’s assistant coach in the previous edition, has replaced Chandrakant Pandit in the role, who coached the team for three seasons.Nayar completed the necessary paperwork to join the Kolkata-based franchise. Before he was appointed KKR’s head coach, Nayar was named UP Warriorz’s head coach for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026. He will now have to perform double duty and will have a major task on his hands, with the WPL mega auction and the IPL mini auction approaching.
KKR made the announcement on their social media handles on Thursday, sharing a picture of Nayar welcoming him to the new role. Captioning the picture, the franchise wrote, “A new dawn is upon us.” “Abhishek has been a vital part of the Knight Riders setup since 2018. We’re thrilled to see him take over as head coach and lead KKR into its next chapter,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.