Ex-KKR player accuses Gautam Gambhir of ‘abusing’ his family, saying bad words about Sourav Ganguly

Amidst team India’s dismal performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and New Zealand in Tests, former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary minced no words in criticising current senior national team head coach Gautam Gambhir, reported Hindustan Times on 10 January, alleging Gambhir had abused his family and said bad things about former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Manoj Tiwary also referred Gambhir as a person who doesn’t do what he himself preaches. Opening up on his relations with Gambhir and the latter’s with former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, Manoj Tiwary opened some old chapters.

“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,” Hindustan Times quoted Tiwary as saying.

On Gambhir’s approach for India’s playing XI:

Tiwary’s criticism arrived post Harshit Rana jumped to Indian head coach’s defence. However, Rana’s defence doesn’t surprise Tiwary.

“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 in a chat with Hindustan Times.

“I have said nothing wrong. This is PR which I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don’t know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident,” he added.

“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.

Questions Gambhir’s selection for BGT:

Tiwary also questioned Gambhir’s decisions in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy over the selection of players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal over other proven First-Class cricket performers.

“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 asserted.