Abhishek Nayar, who took over as UP Warriorz (UPW) head coach ahead of the current WPL season, admitted that his first few days on the job “haven’t been easy”, adding that women’s cricket has required him to be more “hands-on” than he had anticipated.
UPW had a tough start to the campaign, losing three games in a row before winning against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday. For Nayar, who previously coached high-profile men’s teams, holding roles with the Indian senior team and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, this is her first full-time role with a women’s team, although she had been part of a few training camps with UPW in recent years.
“I’m understanding this,” Nayar said. “I think a lot of coaches I spoke to before I took on this job said to me, ‘listen, be direct’. Sometimes in men’s cricket, because you’ve worked with them for a long time, there’s that trust. So, you say a certain thing, if you say ‘listen, check covers’, they’ll know which ball to hit, how to hit it. In women’s cricket, I think the attention to detail is a little bit more, so sometimes you need to break it down in a lot of ways, and it’s not as obvious as you think. so I feel like it’s a more hands-on job.”
Nayar said coaching women needed more communication than when it came to coaching men, and pointed to Harleen Deol’s recent retirement situation as an example of one of the challenges she faced.
“I’m also teaching myself every day that ‘listen Abhishek, open your mouth, speak’, and sometimes you have to do it,” he said. “They [players] They are so receptive, it’s surprising, in men’s cricket you have to be careful about “what to talk about and what not to talk about”. I think in women’s cricket they are very receptive, so you can talk to them and get into those details. But I think trust takes time and I’m working on it. I mean, Harleen and these things happen, and things turn out [and] It makes it more difficult for me. It’s different, it’s fun, it’s a challenge, it’s testing me in every way and it’s also preparing me for the IPL, in a different way. But I would say it hasn’t been easy.”
Nayar: ‘I’m meeting the real Meg Lanning’
Nayar spoke about new UPW captain Meg Lanning’s role in helping the team overcome early losses, praising her work ethic and focus.
“Coaches always play the role of creating an environment and a system, but if you don’t have a good leader, it’s hard to win after three losses. Meg Lanning is practical,” Nayar said. “As she gets more familiar with the team, she has more conversations, she talks to people, she gets involved, she talks about plans. As the games go on, I can see the real Meg Lanning.
“One of the things in the auction was to have a strong leader this season. She leads this team and, as I always say, she is the boss of the team. She can have fun with the girls, but she is very meticulous with the planning, she sits down with the pitchers, with the hitters, she tests our coaches, she tests us with a lot of questions about statistics, matchups, areas, and she is learning. She is learning how to work with these girls, their strengths and weaknesses, because it is also new for her. Over time, it will go getting stronger; she is meticulous.
He also backed opener Kiran Navgire, who entered the WPL after a strong domestic season but has struggled to get runs, posting scores of 1, 5, 0 and 10 so far.
“I think it’s been difficult for her so far in this tournament, because she came in with a lot of expectations after her domestic season,” Nayar said. “These conditions haven’t necessarily gone well for her yet, but I think what we’ve tried to do with her is make sure she can still go and give herself the best opportunity by being aggressive, I think that’s what she is.
“Today we tried it a little, I don’t know if you noticed, changing the strike [Lanning facing the first ball]. At times like this I feel that this format is cruel. “It’s such a fast pace that it’s not easy for a player, so you have to make sure you give them the freedom and support so they can keep going, and if you don’t win, it becomes difficult, but when you win, it becomes a little bit easier.”