Abhishek Nayar has rejoined the Kolkata Knight Riders support staff even before the BCCI could officially announce that the Team India assistant coach has been released from his duties nine months into his contract.

The Knights team management decided not to take any risk after their batting failed miserably in their chase of 112 in their previous match against Punjab Kings. They were bundled out for 95 in 15.1 overs.

The defending champions have six points from seven matches and need to win at least five of their remaining seven games to be in contention for a playoffs berth.

The Telegraph had reported that the BCCI had already informed Nayar, along with fielding coach T Dilip and strength and conditioning trainer Soham Desai, that he wouldn't continue in his role.

Nayar attended Saturday's training session at Eden Gardens soon after his arrival from Mumbai late in the afternoon.

Down to business straightaway, Nayar, after a bit of discussion with captain Ajinkya Rahane and head coach Chandrakant Pandit, carefully supervised the batting sessions of vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh.

He was also seen speaking for some time to Ramandeep Singh after a session with Venkatesh about the left-hander's stance and backlift.

Nayar has always been close to the KKR management and had been in charge of their academy in Mumbai before he joined the India ranks.

Grassy wicket

The Knight Riders may not like it, but the Eden pitch for Monday's game against Gujarat Titans has some grass on it. Till late on Saturday evening, the grass on the surface wasn't trimmed.

It remains to be seen if there could be a change of thought on Sunday, the eve of their game against the Titans.

"Two pitches are ready.

Which one of them gets the final nod will be decided later. As for trimming, we need to see how fast the grass grows. If it grows a bit too much because of the heat, it has to be trimmed a little," said curator Sujan Mukherjee on Saturday.

It is almost certain that the conditions will not please the KKR think-tank.

It is almost certain that the conditions will not please the KKR think-tank.