Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has publicly criticised Gautam Gambhir’s tactics, specifically his overreliance on all-rounders and lack of trust in specialists. Gambhir led KKR to an IPL 2024 title despite having no coaching experience.
As a former KKR dressing roommate of Gambhir, Tiwary believes the Indian Test squad lacks consistency and direction under the new leadership. He said Gambhir may have fostered fearlessness in white-ball games, but the red-ball setup is suffering.
“I have said it earlier that Test matches are a game of specialists but we’re keeping them out and trusting all-rounders more,” Manoj Tiwary added.
Since Gautam Gambhir took over, the team has discarded underperforming members and added outside players. In the India-Zealand series, we brought Washington Sundar from outside over Ashwin, who was in the squad.
Tiwary noted Gambhir’s inconsistent team selections, citing recent England series decisions as confused. He stated that Karun Nair was promoted to No. 3 and Sai Sudharsan was dropped after the first Test. He also mentioned Harshit Rana’s surprising debut in Australia, which kept him out of the lineup, and Anshul Kamboj’s Manchester Test debut.
“We played Devdutt Padikkal and Harshit Rana in Australia. Tiwary said Harshit is missing and not a favourite as we’re playing Anshul Kamboj in this Test.
Tiwary believes Gambhir’s frequent chopping and changing is disturbing the team’s core and that players need longer-term support to create confidence and consistency. He also called Kuldeep Yadav’s continued absence one of the most puzzling, given his match-winning ability.
There is no stability and he cannot trust his players long-term. His idea of winning a Test match with part-time all-rounders is impossible. I believe in speciality players, as do many long-time professionals, Tiwary said.
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