Abhishek Nayar on how he helped Shreyas Iyer regain form for maiden T20I century: ‘We addressed three things’

Abhishek Nayar reveals how a technical tweak to Shreyas Iyer’s grip and movement helped the India captain overcome his mental block and hit his maiden T20I ton.

Shreyas Iyer did not get off to a great start as India captain, losing back-to-back series to Ireland and England. However, he has found his groove and led the Men in Blue to 10 consecutive victories, including a gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games. However, he was not finding runs with the bat, as his struggles continued till the 1st T20I vs West Indies came along in Lucknow. He roared back to form in that game in style, as she smashed his first-ever T20I century, hitting 102 runs. After the game, Iyer said that he had a chat with his former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Abhishek Nayar, and that helped him get back to form. Nayar himself has now revealed what chat he had with the India T20I skipper.

Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden T20I century vs West Indies (ANI Pic Service)

Speaking to PTI, Abhishek Nayar revealed that Shreyas Iyer felt that his technique needed to be improved, as he felt that he could not generate force and break his mental block of not being able to clear the boundary. The two then worked on Iyer's grip and movements, and bettered certain technical nuances.

“One of the things he was feeling at the end of the Asian Games was something to do with his technique, where he felt he wouldn’t generate as much force while hitting and just the thought process of not being able to clear the boundary," Nayar said.

“He just felt it was certain — because we have worked and been together for so long — it was more a very technical and a tactical thing. We did a bit of work on his grip and his movements that he speaks about getting flow and momentum into his batting. And then obviously a bit of tactical nuances as to how he can overcome certain bowlers and stuff," he added.

“So it was more just a couple of hours of sitting and talking and making sure he feels really good about his initial movement and before the ball is bowled, the feel of being able to hit the ball," the current KKR head coach further added.

Abhishek Nayar reveals the three things he worked on with Shreyas Iyer

Abhishek Nayar also revealed that he was the one who went to Shreyas Iyer, as he had just come back from Japan, and then went on to reveal the three crucial points that the two discussed to improve the Indian captain's form.

“… because he had just travelled (back from Japan) and had to catch a flight after that. So, it only made sense for me to go to his place. In a lot of ways, a bit of change in the grip, in technical terms, getting his initial movement right and tactically how to overcome bowlers. Those are the three things we addressed along with the normal cricket and mindset discussion that you have in general," he said.

In a video released by BCCI after the India vs West Indies 1st T20I, Shreyas Iyer himself credited the conversation with Abhishek Nayar as the reason that he returned to form.

“I had a brief interaction with Abhishek Nayar in that period where we were talking about cricket. I think that conversation with him helped me a lot in the performance (vs WI)," he said.