Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary took to social media on Sunday to clarify his brutal assessment of India head coach Gautam Gambhir, which had gone viral across platforms. Speaking to News18 Bangla earlier this week, Tiwary labelled Gambhir a “hypocrite” when asked to describe the former India opener following the team’s 1-3 loss against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
“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. They 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,” Tiwary had said.
The former Bengal captain also lashed out at the narrative on Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL title win in 2012, saying that it wasn’t Gambhir’s captaincy entirely that helped KKR win the trophy, but a collective effort from the likes of South Africa great Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla and him. He claimed that social media and PR helped Gambhir take all the credit for KKR’s first IPL title win.
“Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla and I performed with the bat and Sunil Narine bowled exceptionally well. That is why we won the first IPL title. But who took the credit? There is an environment and PR that allows him [Gambhir] to take all the credit.”
Tiwary clarifies ‘hypocrite’ remark
Amid Tiwary’s statement going viral, which also sparked reactions from India players like Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, who played under Gambhir’s mentorship in KKR last season, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel that he simply followed the tide and joined the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar in criticising Gambhir. Tiwary, however, took to X to post a video, where he clarified his stance.
“I was at my coaching centre, sitting there after practice. The local media came there to take my interview. We spoke for 20-25 minutes, and you know that when these people [media] take interviews, they go back to the office and edit it – whatever is convenient, what they feel is required will be kept. They will try to keep whatever there is demand for.
“There were two things Aakash bhai [Aakash Chopra] said. I am pretty sure that he may not have seen the interview of 20 minutes. And these four-five lines which came out from my interviews, he might have just seen that. I just want to clear this, Aakash bhai.
“I like Aakash, I respect him, [he gives his] honest opinion. I feel it is important to clear this up. Aakash bhai said, ‘Manoj behti Ganga mein haath dho raha hai [Manoj is washing his hands in the flowing Ganga],’ (an idiom meaning to go with the tide), after people like Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar were also criticising Gautam Gambhir.
“There is no such thing, Aakash bhai. I have no need to wash my hands in the flowing Ganga. The river is close by, and I can wash my hands there any time, but I do not wish to. I had not been following what those people said. I just said what I felt in the interview.”
The veteran India batter also said that with his statement on KKR, he did not take credit for the title win and rather regretted that even after having an international century to his name, he is more remembered for his performances in IPL.
