Women’s Premier League: Abhishek Nayar, ex-India assistant coach, takes charge of UP Warriorz | Cricket News
Mumbai: UP Warriorz (UPW) on Friday appointed former India allrounder Abhishek Nayar as their head coach for the upcoming season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Nayar’s appointment comes after the franchise parted ways with their former head coach Jon Lewis, who was at the helm for the last three seasons.A seasoned coach, Nayar has been the assistant coach of the Indian team and is currently also the assistant coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He was the assistant coach of KKR when they clinched their third IPL title in 2024. A stalwart of Mumbai cricket who scored 5749 runs and took 173 wickets in 103 first-class matches between 2005-18, Nayar played three ODIs for India in 2009.After his retirement in 2019, the 41-year-old has taken up various roles into coaching and has also mentored and guided several top cricketers like India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik. While Rohit credited him for his return to form in IPL 2025, Karthik praised him for his T20 resurgence, which enabled him to make an India comeback. Rahul seeks out Nayar for batting sessions around grounds in Mumbai.He was the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders academy in 2018 and then joined the KKR support staff as assistant coach. He was also the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) head coach in CPL in 2022.In July 2024, Nayar joined Team India as assistant coach, but had to quit less than a year into the job. He was subsequently immediately recruited by KKR as their assistant coach for IPL 2025, having played the same role from 2018 to 2024 and also run the KKR academy.Nayar was also the mentor of Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals, the winners of T20 Mumbai League this year.Talking about Nayar’s appointment, Kshemal Waingankar, COO and director of cricket UPW, told TOI, “Bringing Abhishek Nayar on board as head coach feels like a natural and exciting step forward for the UP Warriorz. When someone of Abhishek’s calibre became available, it was a no-brainer. Few in Indian cricket bring the same depth of experience when it comes to shaping players and shaping winning cultures. He’s played a pivotal role in the journeys of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, and KL Rahul, as well as promising young talents like Angkrish Raghuvanshi. In just the past 18 months alone, Abhishek has been part of three championship-winning campaigns—each in a different role, each leaving a lasting impact.”“We’re thrilled to have him lead a Warriorz side that’s united, fearless, and hungry to grow. With Abhishek at the helm, we believe this group can do something truly special,” he added.This is the first time that Nayar will take charge of a women’s team, though he conducted a week-long off-season camp with UPW in August 2023 in Bengaluru.
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UPW are yet to win the WPL title-a wait that they will hope Nayar helps them end. The Lucknow-based side made it to the playoffs in the inaugural season in 2023, where they lost to eventual champions Mumbai Indians in the eliminator. However, they ended up at the second last and last of the five teams in the WPL in 2024 and 2025 respectively.UPW were led by India’s ace allrounder Deepti Sharma in WPL 2025, after Australian captain Alyssa Healy was ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
