One of the most significant roles in Kolkata Knight Riders‘ run to an IPL title win in 2024, bouncing back from two horror seasons in 2022 and 2023, was played by their assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. The veteran cricketer was even hailed by Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer after KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final in Chennai last month. Not just in IPL, Nayar had also played the most crucial role in Dinesh Karthik’s sensational comeback to make the T20 World Cup squad in 2022.
On Friday, a clip went viral on social media, where Nayar was stumped by a question during an interview with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia in his recent podcast show. The anchor was keen in known about whether players are advised against having sex given the general notion that it tends to ruin the performance of athletes.
But Nayar spoke much on the lines of what Ronaldo Nazario of Brazil had once admitted. The Brazilin football legend, who had inspired the side to the 2002 FIFA World Cup title win, was asked after the victory whether it was better than having sex and Ronaldo came up with an interesting response, saying: “I have had sex several times before some games. It helps you concentrate. Not all the coaches let you have sex before a match though. I have noticed that in some games, I played better because I had sex before them.”
Speaking on ‘The Ranveer show’, Nayar was initially baffled at the question from the anchor before explaining that while abstaining from having sex has worked for few players, it hasn’t quite for most, implying that it has always been a more individual choice for the players. Here is how the conversation went…
Anchor: Final topic, sex in cricket? Is it a factor in the lives of players?
Nayar: Are you asking this in a positive way or a negative way? You have asked a very open-ended question. It will happen. Which human being will survive without it? But is it good or bad? Is that your question? Or is your question ‘kitna hota hai? ‘
Anchor: I want to answer this, but I want to see what you answer is with me telling.
Nayar: It’s normal for anyone to do it. It’s different for everybody. There is this constant fight and conundrum in every cricketer’s mind. Some people will like it, some will abstain. Some cricketers do believe that their power and focus tend to improve if they don’t have sex, while others follow that and end up concluding that nothing has changed for them. So this is a very individual thing. There is no thumb rule. The fact is, at different phases in life, different things work. No one is desperate, but sometimes there is so much pressure that you want to chill.
Nayar will be back in cricketing scene next year for the 2025 IPL season, which will also witness a mega auction prior to the tournament.
