Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 18 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Abhishek Nayar led the first day of the team's practice session at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, with a motivational pep talk for the squad ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.

KKR head coach Nayar said the team's focus is now on building the right mindset, with every session aimed at preparing mentally to win and secure the franchise's fourth IPL title ahead of their first game on March 29, which the three-time IPL champions will play against five-time winners Mumbai Indians.

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"We've worked on our skills in the past couple of months. We've spoken a lot. For me, what happens here on is how we tune what between our ears. The skill is there. That's not going to change in the next ten days. But what changes is our mentality. So every moment that we spend on this ground, every moment we spend with each other, with the coaches amongst ourselves, there's one goaL. We are to do one thing, we are to win, we are to get that fourth star, and we do everything to prepare our mind before our body actually arrives at the first game on the 29th," he said as per KKR Knight Club.

"So we prepare here. We use this time to talk to each other, communicate, get strong as a group, so we're ready for everything. Have a lot of fun," Abhishek Nayar added.

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Nayar also welcomed new assistant coach Shane Watson, praising his experience and urging KKR players to tap into his knowledge.

"Everyone knows Shane Watson as a player, but I've known him as someone who's played under him, as a player, and I'm really happy. Watto, to have you with us, I think you've been a terrific addition, even in this small period that I've interacted with you. Tap into his experience. You will learn a lot. We've had a lot of good coaches, but I'm pretty sure that Shane Watson is gonna add a lot of value to us. So, Watto, welcome to the KKR family," Nayar said.

Kolkata Knight Riders full squad for IPL 2026:

Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Blessing Muzarabani, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep. (ANI)

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