Manoj Tiwary, a former cricketer for India, publicly accused the head coach Gautam Gambhir of being responsible for the team’s loss of 30 runs against South Africa in Kolkata.
Gautam Gambhir and atmosphere behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s retirement from tests
According to Tiwary, the two seasoned players Kohli and Sharma had been able to pull through in Tests but eventually had to give up their careers in the longest format due to the prevailing situation in the team.
The cricketing world was taken by surprise when Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli declared their retirement from Tests in May 2025, right before India’s visit to England.
Subsequent to their abrupt decisions, there were rumors. Shubman Gill, the young batter, was appointed as the new captain of the Test team in India with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.
Manoj Tiwary criticized Gambhir’s excuses for the 30-run loss and questioned his logic. He went so far as to say that the atmosphere had driven Kohli and Rohit out of the team, while in fact, they had no intention of quitting even when the circumstances were very challenging.
Tiwary said, “All this talk of a ‘transition phase’—I completely disagree with it. India does not need a transition. New Zealand or Zimbabwe might need one. Our domestic cricket is full of talented players who can be called to the national squad at any time.”
He also pointed out, “Our star players—like Virat and Rohit—who wanted to keep playing Test cricket and protect its sanctity—slowly stepped back because of the atmosphere created around them.”
Players cannot be blamed for what happened in Kolkata – Manoj Tiwary On Gautam Gambhir
Manoj Tiwary rebuked Gautam Gambhir for pointing the finger at the players due to the loss in Kolkata. Tiwary questioned the ability of the coach to teach the team and also pointed a finger at him for questioning their technique. Besides, he stated that the experience of Gambhir should have been used for the benefit of the team.
“You cannot blame players’ technique after losing. Your job as a coach is to teach, not to blame. If the batters didn’t have solid defence, why weren’t they trained before the match? When he played, Gambhir himself was a good player of spin, so he should teach more. The results aren’t in India’s favour,” he added.
India in pressure to prove a point ahead of the second test
India’s performance in the second Test in Guwahati will be severely overshadowed by the defeat in Kolkata. They have to win to prevent losing the home series. The Eden Gardens pitch that turned out to be a disadvantage for the home team has now put the spotlight on the surface they will select for the final match.
The defeat resulted in India’s relegation to fourth place in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings while it was South Africa’s turn to take the second spot after winning the opener.
There were many voices claiming that India made a wrong assumption by asking for a dry, spinning track that eventually worked in favor of the visiting spinners. Among other things, the Men in Blue’s inability to claim any win on turning tracks last year resulted in a 0-3 loss to New Zealand.
Gautam Gambhir came to the rescue of his team and on the said that the team is still young and is going through a lot of changes. The senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R. Ashwin’s retirements from the format coincided with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane being great players who were phased out.
