Head coach Gautam Gambhir has come under fire from former Indian cricket player Manoj Tiwary, who claims that Gautam Gambhir was instrumental in forcing senior players Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli into retirement. Tiwary’s comments follow Rohit’s dismissal as India’s ODI captain just before the beginning of the three-match series against Australia on October 19.
Both Rohit and Kohli had declared their retirement from Twenty20 Internationals after India’s successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and the West Indies. But they retired from Test much more suddenly. Both batters abruptly left red-ball cricket before India’s tour to England earlier this year after underwhelming performances against Australia and New Zealand. Ashwin, meanwhile, ended his Test career halfway through the Australian Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“The senior players, Ashwin, Rohit, and other players have a lot of cricket experience and are far more established than the head coach or other staff members. If they disagree with something, they will question it.” In essence, you simply ensured that these men were absent,” Tiwary told InsideSport.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of controversies have surfaced since this coach assumed the position. A lot of things are going wrong for Indian cricket. Based on my understanding, Ashwin has retired since he became head coach. Virat and Rohit have also done this. There have been other incidents, such players being brought to the team out of the blue and then immediately starting.
Gautam Gambhir has shown himself to be inconsistent.
In addition to being active in ODIs, Rohit and Kohli have openly stated their want to participate in the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be held by Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. With their most recent international appearance occurring in the Champions Trophy earlier this year, neither player has participated in any kind of competitive cricket since the IPL 2025.
Both Rohit and Kohli, who will be 40 and 39 by the time of the next World Cup, have been selected for India’s squad for the forthcoming ODI series in Australia. However, preserving their health and shape will probably be essential to their long-term prospects. Tiwary cautioned against marginalising both players while praising their outstanding achievements to Indian cricket.
“In my opinion, Rohit and Virat have been excellent representatives of Indian cricket given the conditions, environment, and pressure that have been put on these players. Indian cricket has reached new heights thanks to them. Tiwary stated, “We have seen that the players who put their heart and soul into their game have given it their all.”
They may think about retiring if these athletes believe that their reputation is being damaged and that they are no longer valued in the locker room. I think they’d like to play. Since these two have been exceptional in the white-ball format, I don’t think Gautam Gambhir would accept the difficult decision to be without them. If Gautam does not incorporate these two into the World Cup plan, it would be a very bad move.
In ODIs, Rohit and Kohli both maintain their amazing stats. In 37 innings since 2023, Rohit has amassed 1714 runs at an average of 48.97 and a strike rate of 117.2, while Kohli has amassed 1710 runs at an average of 61.07 and a strike rate of 95.8 in 34 innings.
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