Anil Nayar is an Indian squash player widely regarded as one of the leading amateur squash talents to have emerged from India during the 1960s. He won several major intercollegiate and amateur titles in the United States while studying at Harvard University, and represented India in international squash competition during the same period.
| Name | Anil Nayar |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian |
| Sport | Squash |
| Education | Harvard University, United States |
| Era of prominence | Late 1960s |
Nayar took up squash in India and developed his game through the country's club circuit, which during the post-Independence decades produced a number of strong amateur players. He travelled to the United States for higher education, enrolling at Harvard University, where collegiate squash was then among the most competitive amateur circuits in the world.
While playing for Harvard, Nayar established himself as a dominant intercollegiate competitor. He captured United States national intercollegiate singles honours and was a leading figure in Harvard's strong squash teams of the period. Beyond college play, he competed successfully on the wider American amateur circuit, winning national amateur-level singles competition.
Nayar also represented India in international squash, drawing on the hardball-influenced North American game as well as the softball game played in Commonwealth countries.
Nayar is remembered as a pioneering Indian presence in elite international squash at a time when the sport's competitive base in India was small and largely club-driven. His successes at Harvard and on the United States amateur circuit drew attention to Indian squash decades before the country produced a stream of professional players in the 1990s and 2000s.