"You don’t have to sledge taking your father or mother’s name” - When Manoj Tiwary & Gautam Gambhir had a fiery exchange in a Ranji Trophy match

Despite helping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win their maiden IPL title in 2012, Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary have had their battles over the years. The duo were involved in a heated exchange during a Ranji Trophy game between Delhi and Bengal in 2015.

While Gambhir was leading Delhi, Tiwary captained Bengal and the incident took place on Day 3 of the fiercely contested encounter. Tiwary walked out to bat in Bengal's second innings and was accused of wasting time as Delhi looked for a crucial outright win, having fallen 108 runs behind in the first innings.

The on-field umpire had to get in the way of the pair and the match referee later fined Gambhir 70% and Tiwary 40% of his match fees.

Both players had much to say about the incident later, with Tiwary telling PTI [quoted by ESPN Cricinfo]:

"Obviously they were pressurising me but that does not mean he has the right to abuse me. What I said, sledging in a competitive way is good but you don't have to sledge taking your father or mother's name. You don't want to cross line when you play competitive game."

Gambhir also had his say on the incident post-game [via ESPN Cricinfo].

"My team-mates urged Manoj to refrain from wasting time. Instead of getting on with his batting he started abusing some of Delhi players. At which point I came in and told him what I thought about his demeanour. The umpires did a wonderful job of calming the situation by intervening right there. And the matter ended," he said.

The match ended in a draw, with Tiwary scoring half-centuries in both innings while Gambhir fell for a golden duck in his lone innings.

"Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite" - Manoj Tiwary

Gambhir has endured a forgettable start to his Indian head coaching career [Credit: Getty]

Cut to the present and the battle between the two may have reopened, with Manoj Tiwary calling Gautam Gambhir a 'hypocrite'.

Gambhir has struggled since taking over as Team India's head coach in July 2024, with the side suffering a home Test series whitewash to New Zealand and a 1-3 loss in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

"Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite. He doesn’t do what he says. Where is the captain (Rohit) from? Mumbai. Where is Abhishek Nayar from? Mumbai. The got a chance to put a Mumbai player in the forefront. There is no one to speak for Jalaj Saxena. He performs well but keeps quiet," said Tiwary to News18 Bangla [Via Indian Express].

He added:

"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. They have to be yes men to the coach. That’s why they were brought."

Besides the Test debacles, India suffered a 0-2 ODI series defeat in Sri Lanka in Gambhir's first overseas tour as head coach.