New Rift in Team India? Sacked Batting Coach Abhishek Nayar Reportedly Just ‘A Scapegoat’ in Bigger ‘Turf War’

The BCCI made a shocking move on Thursday (April 17) when they let go of three members of the Indian cricket team’s coaching staff in Abhishek Nayar, T Dilip and Soham Desai, thus removing three key figures from the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching team. 

The move reportedly came about as a result of India’s poor showings in the two Test series against New Zealand at home and Australia away from home in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2025 (BGT 2025). 

The removal of Desai and Dilip comes as no surprise, given they had been in their posts for more than 3 years and the current BCCI Standard Operating Procedure’s (SOP) has capped the support staff’s tenure at three years. 

But the removal of Nayar has caught the eye, as he joined alongside Gambhir and has been in his tenure for less than a year. 

Now, a new report is claiming that the former India all-rounder fell victim to politics in the dressing room. 

A report in the news agency PTI is claiming that Nayar’s departure is down to a rift with a high-profile member of the support staff. 

“While India’s recent Test debacles (against New Zealand and Australia) has led to the churning but there is also a feeling in the BCCI that Nayar became a scapegoat in the turf war between an important member of the support staff and a senior star player,” a BCCI source told PTI.

Who this unnamed staff member is remains to be seen but it has led to fresh speculation that all is not well in the dressing room. 

Ever since the 3-1 series loss Down Under, India’s first loss in a BGT Test series in a decade, rumours of a dressing room rift have been doing the rounds. 

The rumours died down after India won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 but this latest turmoil shows things may not be as rosy as they seem in Indian cricket.