Former cricketer Manoj Tiwary has doubled down on his criticism of Gautam Gambhir after Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana came out in the men’s head coach’s defense on Thursday. Tiwary accused Gambhir of ‘bias’ and favoritism, saying the players only returned his favor because he selected Rana over Aakash Deep in India’s Tests against Australia.
On Thursday, Tiwary chastised Gambhir about his lackluster start — three wins in ten Tests — as India’s head coach in an interview with News18 Bangla. Within hours of it coming out, Nitish and Harshit released similar statements on social media, calling Gambhir a selfless and able coach, and suggesting Tiwary’s remarks reflected his ‘personal insecurities’.
“Why wouldn’t Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir?” Tiwary told Hindustan Times on Friday. “Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn’t have that much first-class experience. Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him,” he said.
