“Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite” - Former India batter slams head coach after 1-3 loss in BGT 2024-25

Former batter Manoj Tiwary has lambasted India head coach Gautam Gambhir after the Men in Blue lost the five-game Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series 3-1 in Australia. The 39-year-old called Gambhir a “hypocrite” after India captain Rohit Sharma's saga in the fifth and final Test held in Sydney, where the Aussies won by six wickets.

The cricketer-turned-commentator further questioned the role of bowling coach Morne Morkel as other bowlers barring Jasprit Bumrah failed to deliver in the series.

Bowlers under scanner after BGT 2024-25 series:

Mohammed Siraj: 20 wickets @47.15

Akash Deep: 5 wickets @93.40

Harshit Rana: 4 wickets @67.50

Tiwary also took a dig at Abhishek Nayar as the batting unit could not deliver Down Under.

Batters under scanner after BGT 2024-25 series:

Rohit Sharma: 31 runs in five innings @ 6.2

Virat Kohli: 190 runs in nine innings @ 23.75

Shubman Gill: 93 runs in five innings @ 18.60

Rishabh Pant: 255 runs in nine innings @ 28.33

KL Rahul: 255 runs in nine innings @ 30.66

Notably, Morkel and Nayar had worked with Gambhir (mentor) at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), respectively.

Manoj Tiwary told News 18 Bangla (via Times Now):

“Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite. He doesn’t do what he says. The captain is from Mumbai, Abhishek Nayar is from Mumbai. Rohit has been pushed to the forefront by them to deal with all the issues.”

“What is the use of a bowling coach? Whatever the coach says he will agree. Morne Morkel came from Lucknow Super Giants. Abhishek Nayar was at Kolkata Knight Riders with Gambhir and the Indian head coach has a comfort zone with him,” he added.

“How will they work together?” - Manoj Tiwary questions camaraderie between Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma

Manoj Tiwary further slammed the camaraderie between Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, suggesting an ego battle between the two. He said during the same interaction:

“How will they work together? Rohit is a World Cup-winning captain While Gambhir led KKR to IPL titles both as a captain and mentor.”

Gambhir has failed to deliver in ODIs and Tests. Under his coaching, India lost the ODI series 0-2 in Sri Lanka.

Team India then lost their first-ever home Test series since 2012 to New Zealand by a 0-3 margin. The Men in Blue also failed to complete a hat-trick of Test series wins in Australia, losing a place in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final.

Tiwary added that Gambhir took all the credit after winning the 2012 and 2014 editions of IPL:

“Gambhir didn’t guide KKR to the title single-handedly as we all performed as a unit. Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine and I, all contributed to the cause. But who took the credit?”

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir will now be keen to turn his fortunes around at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which starts in February.