"Us din hathapai ho sakti thi" - Former India cricketer recalls incident when he almost came to blows with Gautam Gambhir

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has made headlines for his stern criticism of current Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir. Tiwary recently shared more details about his unpleasant relationship with the ex-opening batter.

While appearing on the 'The Lallantop' YouTube channel, Tiwary recalled an incident where he almost came to blows with Gambhir. He stated that the two would have been involved in a physical fight if legendary Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram had not played peacemaker.

Narrating the incident, Tiwary said:

"I was the highest scorer in a friendly match against Australia. I scored 139 runs and he (Gautam Gambhir) scored 105 or 110. He got angry at me during that match and said, 'What are you doing? Go down! Everyone went downstairs.'"

"When I was in the washroom, he came from behind and started getting mad at me again. He said your attitude won't work and I will make sure that you never play. Wasim Akram also came inside and he cooled things down. Ho sakta tha us din hathapayi bhi ho sakti thi (It was possible that we would have had a physical fight)."

It is worth mentioning that Manoj Tiwary slammed Gautam Gambhir following India's underwhelming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 campaign. He called Gambhir a 'hypocrite' for roping in foreign coaches in his support staff and even questioned his appointment as the head coach.

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"He said, 'Meet me in the evening, I will beat you'" - Manoj Tiwary opens up on on-field fight with Gautam Gambhir in 2015

During the aforementioned interview, Manoj Tiway also spoke about his heated exchange with Gautam Gambhir during a Ranji Trophy match in 2015. He alleged that Gambhir threatened to beat him after the end of the day's play.

Tiwary stated:

"I took my guard and he was standing in the slips. He started cursing me and throwing abuses at my mother and sister. He said, 'Meet me in the evening, I will beat you.' I replied why evening, let's do it now. Even I was strong at that time."

The 39-year-old also claimed that during the altercation, Gambhir made some derogatory remarks about former India captain Sourav Ganguly. He added:

"Sourav Ganguly came into our board at the time. He said demeaning things about Ganguly too like he used his jack and source to come into the board."

Tiwary announced his retirement from professional cricket last year in February. The right-handed batter scored 8,634 runs during his two-decade-long first-class career, the most by a Bengal player. He featured in 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India.