Shane Watson praises Abhishek Nayar's deep knowledge of Indian cricket as KKR's head coach.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s new assistant coach Shane Watson has lavished praise on head coach Abhishek Nayar, saying that he has never come across anyone with such depth of intel and knowledge on Indian cricket.

Nayar was promoted from batting coach to the main job ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. KKR had one of their best performances in the event, smartly using their high budget advantage to sign a mix of superstar starters like Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana, alongside lesser-known high-ceiling players like Tejasvi Singh, Prashant Solanki, Sarthan Ranjan, and Daksh Kamra, among others.

“I’ll say this straight away, I think Abhishek Nayar knows just about every cricketer on the planet," Watson said on KKR’s YouTube channel. “His understanding of Indian domestic players, their stats, where they’re at, what they’ve been doing recently, the depth of his intel – it’s extraordinary. I’m not sure I’ve come across anyone with that level of knowledge across Indian cricket."

Even before taking KKR’s batting coach role, Nayar has been working in the franchise’s academy in Mumbai. There, he has groomed several young cricketers which have eventually transitioned into either KKR’s first team (like Rinku Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi) or even other franchises.

“Going into the auction, I had complete confidence that even if we missed out on any domestic player we were targeting, Abhishek would already have had two or three alternatives lined up, with clear insight into their strengths. He was regularly sending me videos, breaking down each player’s performances across every possible scenario. That level of preparation gave us enormous confidence. Leaning on Abhishek’s intel, we just knew things were going to work out well for us in the auction. When you have someone like Abhishek leading that process, you know you’re always going to build a squad filled with some serious domestic talent and quality," Watson added.

KKR won the IPL 2024 season but finished seventh in 2025. They would hope to return to winning ways under Nayar with the competition expected to be even more fierce in 2026.

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