New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) UP Warriorz (UPW) have named former India men’s all-rounder Abhishek Nayar as their new head coach ahead of the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) season. Nayar will take over the top role from Jon Lewis, who had coached the franchise in the last three seasons.

Nayar’s appointment was confirmed through a video on Instagram posted by comedian Zakir Khan. Nayar played three ODIs for India and had been a stalwart for Mumbai in domestic cricket before announcing his retirement in 2019.

“I really enjoyed my time working with the UP Warriorz before and I’m thrilled to take on this new role. WPL is a fantastic platform for women’s cricket and I’m looking forward to working closely with the management to build a strong team for Season 4.”

“UP Warriorz already have a strong foundation in place, and I believe we can build something truly special. There is incredible potential and I will give it my all to help win their first-ever title this season,” said Nayar in a statement issued by the franchise on Friday.

Nayar then joined the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) support staff as assistant coach from 2018 to 2024, apart from being their academy’s head coach. He also served as the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) head coach in 2022 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

After KKR won IPL 2024, Nayar then joined the Indian team as their assistant coach, but his contract was ended shortly after the side won 2025 Champions Trophy. He subsequently made a return to KKR as their assistant coach for IPL 2025.

Being UP Warriorz head coach will be the first time of Nayar takin a full-time coaching role in women’s cricket. He previously worked as a batting consultant during the franchise’s week-long off-season camp in August 2023 in Bengaluru.

“Abhishek Nayar is one of the best brains in the business in Global cricket, and we are delighted to have on our side as the Head Coach. We are excited about his vision for UP Warriorz, and we are confident that under his leadership, the team can provide its fans with many more memorable moments in the future,” said Kshemal Waingankar, COO, UP Warriorz.

Nayar played a critical role in unleashing Dinesh Karthik’s abilities as a T20 finisher in the later part of his career. He has also been credited by Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Angkrish Raghuvanshi for resurrecting their batting careers, apart from being praised for his coaching abilities by Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy.

In 2023, UPW entered the playoffs, before losing to eventual champions Mumbai Indians in the eliminator. But in 2024 season, UPW failed to enter the playoffs as they finished at fourth place in the points table.

In WPL 2025, UPW were led by India’s off-spin bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma after regular skipper Alyssa Healy was unavailable due to a knee injury, and ended at the bottom of the points table.

–IANS

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