A recent interview of former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary went viral on internet in which he made some relentless attack at current national team head coach Gautam Gambhir. Tiwary even went on to call Gambhir a ‘hypocrite’, owing to his recent results with the Indian team, particularly the 3-0 clean sweep to New Zealand at home and 1-3 loss against Australia Down Under. While reacting to the scathing attack targeted at Gambhir, another ex-India player Aakash Chopra criticised Tiwari. Now, Tiwari has issued a clarification, giving a direct reply to Chopra on social media.

“I was at my coaching centre, sitting there after practice. The local media came there to take my interview. We spoke for 20-25 minutes, and you know that when these people (media) take interviews, they go back to the office and edit it – whatever is convenient, what they feel is required will be kept. They will try to keep whatever there is demand for,” said Tiwari in a video posted on X.

“There were two things Aakash bhai (Aakash Chopra) said. I am pretty sure that he may not have seen the interview of 20 minutes. And these four-five lines which came out from my interviews, he might have just seen that. I just want to clear this, Aakash bhai.

“I like Aakash, I respect him, (he gives his) honest opinion. I feel it is important to clear this up. Aakash bhai said, ‘Manoj behti Ganga mein haath dho raha hai (Manoj is washing his hands in the flowing Ganga),’ (an idiom meaning to go with the tide), after people like Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar were also criticising Gautam Gambhir.

Hi @cricketaakash bhai, this is my views on the video which u posted where I was mentioned by you. Do have a look once cheers. See u soon pic.twitter.com/tlhywpgujT

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) January 11, 2025

“There is no such thing, Aakash bhai. I have no need to wash my hands in the flowing Ganga. The river is close by, and I can wash my hands there any time, but I do not wish to. I had not been following what those people said. I just said what I felt in the interview.”

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has been receiving a lot of criticism ever since India’s 1-3 loss to Australia in a recently-concluded five-match Test series Down Under. Ever since the loss, fans and former cricketers have been vocal while slamming players and management. Gambhir has also been featuring headlines for India’s woeful run in the Test format, which hasn’t seen them succeed only once in the last eight Tests. After facing fire from fans, former cricketer Manoj Tiwary became the latest player to criticise Gambhir as India continues to find its way out of the turmoil. Tiwary launched a scathing attack on the India coach as he called him a ‘hypocrite’.

Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, who had been with Gautam Gambhir during their time with the Kolkata Knight Riders, backed the cricket veteran. However, their posts for Gambhir turned out to be similar. Commenting on that, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said that both of their texts looked like a “Chat GPT product”.

“Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana voiced their support for Gambhir on social media. If you look at it, it looks like a Chat GPT product,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“There are many similarities in both statements, or someone wrote them and sent them to post on social media. It felt like both statements were written by the same man or machine. It could be Chat GPT, for all we know,” he added.

Gambhir’s tenure began with India’s tour of Sri Lanka. While India was a force to be reckoned with in the T20I format, the ODI series was a different story.

After the first ODI ended in a nerve-wracking draw, India lost the next two games, suffering its first bilateral series defeat in the format against Sri Lanka in a gap of 27 years.

The ODI series was followed by Bangladesh’s tour of India, consisting of two Tests and three T20Is. The ODI series defeat became a distant memory, with India sweeping the entire series with a flawless performance.

The road to the World Test Championship final looked secured. New Zealand arrived in India to play three Tests, which were to determine the fate of the WTC final.

When India were the clear favourite on the paper, New Zealand came in with different plans. The Kiwi upped the ante, taking India by surprise and walking away with a historic 3-0 series win.

After facing the first whitewash at home in Test format, India tried to pose a comeback in Australia by trying to defend the BGT in Australia.

The title defence began on a record-shattering note, with India pummelling Australia all around the park in Perth. With Jasprit Bumrah at the helm, India moved to Adelaide on the back of a thumping 295-run victory.

Even after shattering records in Perth, the momentum swung in Australia’s favour in the day-night Test. India kept chasing Australia throughout the series and ended on the losing side with a 3-1 series defeat, the first in a decade.

(With ANI Inputs)

Mumbai Indians (MI) have arguably the strongest core in their team before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The five-time IPL champions have managed to retain all four of their international Indian stars, in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma. Now, MI’s biggest challenge comes in filling the squad adequately with a comparatively low budget of Rs 45 crore in the mega auction. Former India cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra has predicted that Mumbai Indians could bid hard for an Indian spinner.

“Given their retentions, Mumbai Indians may end up having an entire Indian batting lineup and an entire overseas bowling lineup, apart from a couple of Indian spinners. Whether they get him or not, they will definitely go after Yuzvendra Chahal. They may also want to look at Washington Sundar,” said Aakash Chopra, speaking on his YouTube channel.

Chahal was surprisingly not retained by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the mega auction. The leg-spinner is the highest wicket-taker in IPL history, and the only bowler to have more than 200 IPL wickets.

In fact, Chahal has picked 18 or more wickets in each of the last six IPL seasons.

On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s power-packed lineup from IPL 2024 meant that Washington Sundar had to be let go. However, having impressed in both T20Is and Test cricket for Team India recently, Sundar may fetch a high price in the auction.

Chopra also added that while he felt that Mumbai Indians could bid for Ishan Kishan, the 26-year-old wicket-keeper batter may be out of their budget. Instead, he suggested some alternatives.

“They’ll need a wicket-keeper batter. Maybe they go towards Quinton de Kock, or perhaps Jitesh Sharma or perhaps Phil Salt. They will need an overseas opener and wicket-keeper batter. Jitesh does not fit that completely, but he is an Indian,” said Chopra.

The IPL mega auction will be held in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.

In the run-up to India’s second Test against New Zealand at Pune, former opener Aakash Chopra believes despite the hosts’ backing KL Rahul to come good, the pressure is undoubtedly on him to get runs. Questions have risen over Rahul’s place in the Indian team due to his indifferent run. Though he made a firm 68 in the second Test against Bangladesh at Kanpur, Rahul couldn’t make an impact in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand – making scores of zero and 12.

With Shubman Gill, who missed the first Test because of neck stiffness, set to return in Pune, and Sarfaraz Khan making 150 – his maiden Test century in Bengaluru, Rahul is under pressure to hold on to his spot in the eleven. But Chopra sees him playing the Pune Test.

“I am not privy to any inside information but it seems that he will be playing the second Test match. But then of course the pressure is building because one is his own form and I am not just thinking about one Test match here or there, because that will be just unfair to start judging people and then start picking or dropping people based on their single performance.”

“He hasn’t really been in very good form over the last 8-10 Tests (majority of which he missed due to injury), that’s also a fact. So time is running out. Sarfaraz has already scored 150 in the last game so that pressure is also there. So this game is an important one for him and team has also thought of it.”

“I mean they also feel that Rahul is basically an opener but he has been pushed up and down the order way too many times and its just not fair for somebody to be always in the line of fire and is asked to just adjust. The team is putting the weight behind him but in the end, it’s all about scoring runs. So yes, there will be pressure, there is no doubt about it,” said Chopra, an expert with JioCinema & Sports18, in a select virtual interaction on Wednesday.

Asked if there was a deadline in mind for Rahul to come good in Tests, especially with Border-Gavaskar Trophy happening next month, Chopra felt one can’t put an end date on anyone’s run in the set-up.

“But you can’t indefinitely go on without scoring, taking wickets, irrespective of what your name is. The rule applies to everyone who is playing for India. So, it’s not restricted to KL Rahul. Obviously, the team has seen value in him.”

“Now, if you want to turn it around and say, okay, he played in Kanpur and in the first series, he scored runs. In the first Test match, he could have scored more runs, the team decided to declare. Then we go back to the last series he didn’t play, that was the England series (ruled out after Hyderabad Test due to injury).”

“Previously, the series before that in South Africa, he scored a century. So, the team has more than one reason to think that he is bringing and adding value. Also the fact that out of the eight centuries that he scored, seven are overseas, including in SENA countries. From all those standpoints, you tend to feel that the boy has a lot to offer, and therefore, we must stick with him for a little longer.”

“But I am not the one who should be putting a date or time to it. It is for the Indian team to figure out if they feel they have given fair number of chances. If there and when there is a need to move to someone else, then they will take that call when it comes. But at this point in time, it looks like they are backing KL Rahul to the hilt.”

Another player who’s under pressure to put in note-worthy performances for India in Tests is pacer Mohammed Siraj, who has taken only 13 wickets in 15 innings since his stunning six-wicket haul coming against South Africa at Cape Town in January this year. Chopra feels there are a variety of reasons behind Siraj not being prolific of late at home and thinks he needs to step up at Pune, especially with someone like an in-form Akash Deep in the waiting.

“One thing is that it is a little difficult for him because he is standing with Jasprit Bumrah. So we tend to feel that if Jasprit Bumrah can do so well then he should also do well, and get as many wickets. See, it is not easy to get wickets in India, and it has become even more difficult because you can’t reverse swing that much ever since saliva has been banned.”

“It is a little tough, and the third thing is that sometimes it just goes unnoticed that he doesn’t even get that much bowling in the second innings because all the spinners are working. I was going through one stat not too long ago where his second innings average bowling overs were 5-6 overs.”

“So it is difficult to get wickets on Indian pitches if you are a fast bowler, and also when you are a part of a five-bowler pack because the fifth bowler is a wicket-taking option for the captain. For a simple reason, you have got three quality spinners and Jasprit Bumrah. I mean, that pushes you down in that pecking order.”

“It is very difficult, but the pressure is on him as well. We were talking about Rahul under pressure just now, and I am sure Siraj is also feeling the pressure. It’s more so because Akash Deep, whenever he is played, has done well. Of course, the pitches have been a little more seamer-friendly.”

“But Siraj will have to turn a corner. He is somebody who boasts a lot of heart and knows how to pick wickets. So if India goes ahead and backs him for the second Test match, I think it will be time that he picks up wickets and rather contributes decently. Otherwise, there might be a change in the offing, because you want people to be ready for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well.”

Ravichandran Ashwin on Day 5 of 1st Test match between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru.© BCCI

File photo of KL Rahul.© AFP

File photo of Rishabh Pant.© AFP

File photo of Indian cricket team.© AFP