5 shocking statements made by Manoj Tiwary on Gautam Gambhir

Former Bengal and India cricketer Manoj Tiwary slammed his former teammate and current India coach Gautam Gambhir. The comments came after the latter's disastrous showing as India coach in the aftermath of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3 to Australia.

Speaking to News18Bangla (via the Indian Express) and Hindustan Times, Tiwary clarified that he was unhappy with Gambhir's promotion as the India head coach and that the results are there for everyone to see. The former Delhi and India opener has endured a tough start to life as coach.

Under Gambhir's guidance, in 2024, India lost a home series to New Zealand for the first time and the BGT. In 10 Tests that the Men in Blue have played under him, they have won just three. India also lost an ODI series to perceived minnows Sri Lanka in Gambhir's tenure.

In this listicle, we look at five shocking statements made by Manoj Tiwary about Gautam Gambhir.

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#5 On Rahul Dravid's passing the baton

Tiwary, in his tirade, mentioned that Gambhir had done a disservice to what Rahul Dravid had achieved as India's coach before him. The latter went out on a high after winning the T20 World Cup in 2024, but Gambhir's follow-up performances have been poor.

The former Bengal cricketer also said that the 'results speak for themselves.' Gambhir's record as India's coach has been dismal at best, and he will not be expected to keep the job if these showings continue.

"Why hasn't he been able to provide the results which were expected of him? Rahul Dravid passed the baton to him. Rahul Dravid left on a high, but somehow that has not been carried forward, and that is purely due to lack of experience in coaching," Tiwary said.

"The results are there to be seen. When you lose three series in your short tenure, you have lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and, most importantly, you lost the home series against New Zealand. It was a big loss, as this had never happened before. A lot of things speak for themselves. Losing to New Zealand in a home series is not acceptable at all. In your short career, you also lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka," he added.

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#4 On the lack of coaching experience

Manoj Tiwary also said that Gambhir does not have enough coaching experience to be given the Indian team's job. Tiwary indirectly hinted at Gambhir's lack of credentials. He mentioned that Gambhir had earlier mentored teams in the IPL, but there is a world of difference between mentoring and hands-on coaching.

"You tell me, before taking up coaching in the Indian team, did he have any coaching experience in first-class cricket or IPL or anywhere in the world? Did he coach any one of the teams? Mentoring and coaching are totally different. That is where everyone mixes up. That is where fans mix up, and a lot of others mix up. Coaching and mentoring are totally opposite. When you don't have experience, how do you expect to perform? That is what is happening right now, and the results are there for everyone to see," Tiwary said.

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#3 On dubious selection

Tiwary pointed fingers at some dubious selection calls made during the BGT and felt that this was the reason why some players were defending Gambhir in public. Recently, Harshit and Nitish Rana had mentioned Gambhir's support towards them.

Tiwary, however, felt that the former should not have played in Perth in Akash Deep's place.

The 39-year-old mentioned that if Rana was indeed termed to be so good a bowler, why was he not picked again in the series? He also mentioned the case of the unfortunate Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is yet to make his Test debut despite scoring 7,674 runs in first-class cricket.

"Why wouldn't Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn't have that much first-class experience. Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him," said Tiwary.

"How was Devdutt Padikkal included in the Test squad, he was out of the equation. How did he come into the mix when Abhimanyu Easwaran was there, scoring so many runs non-stop? He has scored so many runs. Why wasn't he selected and not played at No.3. These are the kinds of things happening, and the results are there for everyone to see," he added.

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#2 On the altercation in 2015

Gautam Gambhir and Tiwary had an on-field altercation during a Ranji Trophy game between Delhi and Bengal in 2015, and the latter came clean about what the former had said to him.

Among many things, Tiwary mentioned that Gambhir had abused his family and also disrespected the legendary Sourav Ganguly.

"When he fought with me during the Ranji Trophy match in Delhi, everyone heard every word from Gautam Gambhir's mouth. Whether he was talking bad about Sourav Ganguly or whether he was abusing my family, he was protected by a few of the individuals. This is the PR I am talking about. The process of picking players and selecting them in the playing XI is not happening properly. Akash Deep was dropped in favour of Harshit Rana. If you thought Harshit was so good, why didn't you continue with him for the rest of the series? Akash Deep doesn't have a voice," said Tiwary.

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#1 On hypocrisy

The cornerstone of Tiwary's comments about Gambhir was about the latter being perceived as a 'hypocrite.' Tiwary felt the need to clarify his remarks and mentioned that he had said so based on Gambhir's earlier interviews.

Tiwary pointed out that Gambhir had mentioned in the past that he was completely against the notion of having foreign coaches guiding the Indian cricket team. However, when he took up the job, he asked Ryan ten Doeschate (The Netherlands) and Morne Morkel (South Africa) to assist him.

"Why did I call him a hypocrite? It is because of one of his interviews if you remember. In one of the interviews, he said, ‘All these foreign coaches, all the guys who come from abroad, have no emotions, they have no feelings. They earn money and enjoy themselves.’ When the time was there for him to select all the Indian coaches and all the Indian-origin support staff, why did he put forward the names of Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel? He got everything he wanted but he is not able to produce the results. Actions don't match his words, so I called him a hypocrite," Tiwary said.