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No Word From BCCI But KKR Confirms Abhishek Nayar Is Out Of It!
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not uttered a word about the status of the Indian team’s Assistant Coach Abhishek Nayar who was part of the Gautam Gambhir-steered support staff. But the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has announced that Abhishek Nayar has returned to the franchise — which has confirmed that Nayar extolled by none other than India’s star batter KL Rahul and a few more — has lost his job with the Indian team. Nayar was with KKR from 2018 to 2024, and so returning to the Shah Rukh Khan owned franchise team indicates that KKR was happy with the work done by him. Reports, citing “one or many of BCCI’s million sources” say that Nayar’s position became untenable after India’s 0-3 rout by New Zealand in the home series and 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. It can be surmised that Nayar was not able to help skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and the others score runs off the Australia pace pack in Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. Josh Hazlewood did not play the full series after he suffered a calf injury in the second Test in Brisbane. The BCCI believes that Sitanshu Kotak, appointed batting coach of the men in blue teams for the home series against England and continued for the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai, can deliver wonders for the national team. Kotak’s appointment from Centre of Excellence duties to the Indian team was a cue that Nayar was on the way out. A regional broadsheet even went to the extent of suggesting that Nayar was divulging dressing room happenings to the outside world and hence, was asked to go! What a reason!  
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BCCI's Love For Lefty Batting Coaches Sets Tongues Wagging
The latest news that the phlegmatic Sitanshu Kotak is likely to be the dedicated batting coach of the men in blue team starting from the five-match Twenty20 series against England has set tongues wagging about the need to equip the Twenty20 World Cup winning team with three ‘batting’ coaches — all left handers — under head coach Gautam Gambhir who himself is a left hander. Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach) is a left hander and so too is Kotak. The BCCI has not declared Kotak being added to the team that will meet in Kolkata for the first match.  While India’s batters in general flunked against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the knee-jerk response from the BCCI — cannot say if the 116-Test veteran Dilip Vengsarkar, a 1983 World Cup winning star, a former Chairman of the senior national selection committee and an Apex Council member was consulted about the addition of a batting coach to the national team. And also Shubangi Kulkarni the second former cricketer in the Apex Council. Only the BCCI can reveal if Kotak is going to do the batting coach role across formats. More importantly to whom will the batters take their problems to — Gambhir, Nayar or Kotak who has not played for India in any format. Kotak (52) has played 130 first class matches and scored only 15 x 100s!  He has been part of the National Cricket Academy set up for many years and has managed India A and junior teams. In addition the men in blue team has a second Assistant Coach in Ryan ten Doeschate, bowling coach Morne Morkel and fielding coach T Dilip, who was retained from the previous coaching staff under Rahul Dravid.
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Jasprit Bumrah’s Viral Illness Surprises All
Jasprit Bumrah did not appear in the team sheet for the third and final Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. The BCCI issued a statement that the fast bowler with 173 wickets in 40 Test matches — 47 in India and 126 overseas — has not recovered from a viral illness. This bit of information surprised one and all because two senior members of the team — Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and Assistant Coach Abhishek Nayar — did not utter a word leading to the Test match that Bumrah had anything like being stricken by a bug. In fact Nayar said that Bumrah is important, he bowled only (he had sent down 41 overs)  in the first two Tests, that the duration of the two Tests each was under five days, but workload will always be a factor with regard to Bumrah’s selection. On the eve of the match Gambhir said all players are available for selection. But when the team was made known at the toss, skipper Rohit Sharma said that Bumrah is not well and Mohammed Siraj comes into the playing XI. Bumrah has not featured in 25 Tests after his debut against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018, much of it because of an injury. There was an odd occasion when he was released from the squad because of his wedding. He has never been sidelined on the count of ability. Bumrah has played five series in India and his best (19 wickets) was against England early this year. In the ongoing series he played in Bengaluru (3 wickets) and Pune (none).

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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter

Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.