Chandigarh men’s cricket team head coach Rajeev Nayyar was thrashed by five unidentified SUV-borne assailants near Sector 97 on Friday evening.Nayyar, 58, said he was returning from Sector 97-based Launching Pad Academy where he had gone to hold a cricket match for his team.When the match ended around 5pm, he was driving his car, when five unidentified people stopped his car and thrashed him.The assailants had come in a white coloured SUV whose registration plate was missing.In his complaint to the police, the Sector 37 resident did not disclose the reason behind “unprovoked attack” neither did he identify any assailants.Cops said Nayyar did not suspect any one behind the attack but police have traced the vehicle used in the incident.A case of rioting has been registered against five unknown people at the Sohana police station. SHO Simarjeet Singh said further investigation is under way.Nayyar, the head coach of the Chandigarh Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA) team, was recently embroiled in controversy after he was sent on leave and an inquiry was initiated against him following assistant coach Sandeep Arora’s complaint that Nayyar had slapped and humiliated him during the team’s tour to Indore for a match against Madhya Pradesh in the BCCI’s premier domestic tournament in November 2025. Nayyar is now preparing the UTCA team for the Ranji Trophy season, which begins in October.