The Indian cricket team especially the skipper Rohit Sharma and the head coach Gautam Gambhir are getting slammed a lot because of the poor performance team India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Manoj Tiwary, the former Indian cricketer who has also entered the field of politics, criticised Gautam Gambhir and even went on to the extent of calling the head coach a ‘hypocrite’ person.
However, a twist came in the matter when Manoj Tiwary was accused by another former cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra of joining the bandwagon of criticising Gautam Gambhir.
Now, Manoj Tiwary clarified his comments about the head coach Gautam Gambhir following accusations from Aakash Chopra that he was merely joining the trend of criticising the coach after India’s poor performance in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
Manoj Tiwary had posted two videos on his social media accounts responding to Aakash Chopra’s claims. In a prior interview, Tiwary had shared strong opinions about Gambhir but Aakash dismissed them as opportunistic. Manoj Tiwary emphasised that he held no grudge against Aakash Chopra and aimed to clear up the misunderstanding, hoping that the latter would consider his perspective.
In the videos, Manoj Tiwary said, “Aakash bhai said two things. I’m sure that he did not watch the entire interview, which was around 20 minutes long, and these few lines that came out, he might have only seen that. I would like to clear this.”
Manoj Tiwary further added, “I respect him and his honest opinions. He said that I am washing my hand in the flowing Ganga after people like Gavaskar and Manjrekar were also critical of Gambhir. I do not need to wash my hands in the Ganga. The river is close by itself; I can wash my hands whenever I want, but I don’t want to do that. I’ve not been keeping track of what people have been saying.”
Here are the videos:
https://x.com/tiwarymanoj/status/1878163479648985253
https://x.com/tiwarymanoj/status/1878227369267204213
Both Manoj Tiwary and Aakash Chopra had criticised Gambhir and the coaching staff following India’s disappointing tour of Australia, where the team failed to qualify for the final. Senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli faced scrutiny for their lack of runs during the series.
Gambhir and his coaching staff are now focused on turning India’s fortunes around, aiming for success in the upcoming England series and the Champions Trophy 2025.
