Abhishek Nayar's sacking: Captain Rohit breaks silence!

Rohit Sharma on Monday thanked his long-time friend Abhishek Nayar, days after the latter was sacked as Indian team's assistant coach by the BCCI.

Rohit, who roared back to form with an unbeaten 76 for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 match on Sunday, shared a photo of himself celebrating his fifty in which he tagged Nayar.

"Thanks bro @ABHISHEKNAYAR," the 37-year-old Rohit captioned the Instagram post.

Rohit and Nayar go back a long way, having played together for Mumbai in the domestic circuit.

In recent years, Nayar is known for conducting one-on-one sessions with Rohit when the India captain is

in the city.

Nayar's coaching expertise is also widely respected, with players like Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul among those who have benefitted from his guidance.

After a match-winning knock for Delhi Capitals, Rahul had acknowledged Nayar's impact.

"Big shoutout to Abhishek Nayar. I've worked a lot with him ever since he came into the Indian team,” Rahul had said.

The BCCI had recently sacked Nayar, fielding coach T Dilip, and conditioning coach Soham Desai following a performance review after India's disappointing Test run.

Meanwhile, Nayar has returned to Kolkata Knight Riders fold but his exact role and position has not been specified by the IPL side.

He was part of the KKR set up as an assistant coach and mentor when they lifted their third IPL title last year, a decade after their previous triumph in 2014.