Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has put out an explosive statement, saying that the presence of a PR (Public Relations) team is important to succeed in the modern world. Putting his own cricket career as context, Tiwary explained that had he had a PR team, he could’ve even become India captain. Tiwary implied that having a good PR team can help boost the image of underperforming players, while diminishing more consistent players. He also fired a bunch of allegations, in particular towards current India head coach and his former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate Gautam Gambhir.
“I don’t have a PR team. If I did have one, perhaps I could’ve become India captain one day,” Tiwary said, speaking in an interview with ‘The Lallantop‘.
Tiwary, who plied his trade when MS Dhoni was India’s captain in all formats, explained how a PR team can be beneficial to a cricketer.
“It is a total PR game. If you perform in one match but fail in three, they (good PR) keep boosting that one decent performance. There are always four or five people to regularly highlight that one performance,” Tiwary stated.
“On the other hand, one bad performance and you are buried (if you don’t have a PR team). Sometimes, you make a mistake but PR helps you to shift the blame,” Tiwary added.
Tiwary stated this in the context of a fight with Gambhir. Tiwary said that his relationship with Gambhir had soured during their time together at KKR, accusing that Gambhir would often get annoyed at trivial things.
“I used to get scolded (by Gambhir) for no reason. He would say things that would hurt you. I felt that I was performing well as a local boy at KKR, and journalists were showering limelight on me. Maybe he did not like that,” Tiwary stated.
Tiwary said that the presence of PR helped hide Gambhir’s fault after a spat with Tiwary during a Ranji Trophy game between Delhi and Bengal.
Manoj Tiwary was part of KKR’s IPL 2012-winning side under Gambhir, and even hit the winning runs in the final. KKR went on to win two further titles with Gambhir, one in 2014 with him as captain and then in 2024 with him as team mentor.
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