"Getting hold of..."- Abhishek Nayar comments on challenges of coaching ahead of WPL 2026

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach, the Trinbago Knight Riders’ head coach, India’s batting coach, Abhishek Nayar, has enhanced his CV before shaking hands with the UP Warriorz for the 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). He had a few training camps in the last few years and worked with the players individually, including the captain, Deepti Sharma.

Nayar has a good friendship with Kshemal Waingankar, who is his former team-mate and the COO and director of the UPW side. So when the offer came to him, it was hardly a tough decision to make. It’s his first season of helming the women’s franchise. But he had two training camps under his eye when England got the England side to India ahead of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup for two weeks.

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“For me, it was an experience like this one, and I never let go of an experience in life. So I took up the challenge. It was very, very awkward for me the first day, because getting the. You're so used to saying 'batsman' all the time, so to start saying batter was my initial challenge. But now I'm getting a hold of it.” Nayar expressed on ESPNcricinfo.

Abhishek Nayar eyes to bring glory for UP Warriorz in WPL 2026

 Nayar finds himself in a unique position. Being the UPW head coach and the KKR assistant coach, he has been in high positions of the IPL and the WPL. He reckoned that the basic structure remained the same, but it would be about enhancing the skills of a player as opposed to men’s, which is mostly about the management.

“With men's cricket, once you start working with elite players, there's less coaching, there's more mentoring because it's more about understanding the mind and not so much the technique. I think with women cricketers today, regarding a coach, there's a lot of excitement because you can help amplify the skill as well as the mindset. You can coach a lot more.” Nayar shed light.

He has already linked up with the backroom staff of the side to formulate plans. They had a training camp and trials in Chennai as he tries to understand the domestic ecosystem.