MS Dhoni‘s tenure as Indian cricket team captain was one of the most successful phases of side. From the 2007 T20 World Cup to the 2011 ODI World Cup to 2013 Champions Trophy, under MS Dhoni The Indian cricket team reached new heights. However, some players did not flourish during that period for various reasons. Manoj Tiwary is one of the players. From February 2008 till July 2015, Tiwary played 12 ODIs and three T20Is. After a hugely successful 2006-07 Ranji Trophy season, Tiwary got a national team call-up. 

However, in the first few matches that Tiwary played his spot in the batting line-up was constantly changed. However, one player who stood by him during that period was Virender Sehwag. 

“He [Sehwag] is my idol. I will be indebted to him till my last breath. Because if he didn’t drop himself, my life would have been different. When Virender Sehwag, [Gautam ] Gambhir bhai and I had good relations, and I was part of the team for 7 years in and out, Viru bhai saw that I wasn’t getting chances or being shuffled up and down. Sometimes, I would suddenly be made to open in the West Indies, then then bat at 5; he observed that I suffered injustice,” Tiwary said on Lallantop.

“The series in which he scored a double hundred (in Indore). He rested himself and told Gambhir that we have to make him play and bat at No. 4. In the bus, Viru bhai asked me, where do you want to bat. I said I just want to bat for the country. When he insisted, I told him, I’ve always batted at No. 4. So then he conveyed it to him [Gambhir].

“And look how things turned out. As I always believe it luck, in the first three balls, India lost two wickets – Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel (in an ODI vs West Indies in Chennai in 2011). When I went in there, I had a blank mind. When that happens, more often than not, good things happen. This was written in my stars – to score a hundred. So when I scored the century and collected the Player of the Match award, I felt that I belong in international cricket. He [Sehwag] was very happy. I had cramp.”

He also said that despite other players also not doing well, it was he who got dropped during MS Dhoni’s tenure as captain. 

“He was the captain. Team India runs according to the planning of the skipper. In state teams, things are different but in Team India its all about the captain. If you see, during Kapil Dev‘s time it was he who ran the show, during Sunil Gavaskar‘s tenure it was his call, same was during Mohammad Azharuddin‘s tenure. After that Dada and so on. This will go on unless a strict administrator comes and makes a set rule,” Manoj Tiwary told Lallantop. 

“You see Ajit Agarkar (current BCCI chief selector) and you feel he can take strong decisions. He can disagree with the coach. As far as me being dropped for 14 matches after scoring a century, if a player is dropped after scoring a century, obviously I want to know the answer. After century I was praised, but post that I did not have any inkling. At that time, youngsters used to feel afraid, including me. If you ask something, who knows what way it could have been taken. Career is on the line.

“The players who were in the team then were Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. After that the Tour which took place, they were not making runs. And here I was, even after making a century and winning Player of the Match, could not find a place in playing XI. I was dropped for 14 matches, which took place in a space of six months. At that time the dropped player did not get enough practice. I wanted to retire but due to family responsibility could not.” 

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.

A sportsperson’s life more often than not is full of struggles. More so in India, where competition can be intense. But then, Indian sport is abound with stories where despite humble background, players rose to became stars with sheer discipline and hard work. Former India player Manoj Tiwary is one such name. He played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India. But had he been a little more fortunate, he would have featured in more international matches.

Tiwary played with the likes Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir  during his time with the Indian cricket team. He scored 796 runs at an average 99.50 in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy season. He led Bengal for a long time and was one of the best cricketers to emerge from the state. 

Tiwary, however, had to face a lot of struggle both on and off the field. He even thought of taking early retirement after he did not get enough opportunities for an extended period in the Indian team. 

“Due to responsibility, I did not take early retirement,” he said. 

He was also asked on his struggle in the teenage years when he had to work hard to pay off loans. “Those were difficult times. One thing I always had in mind was that I had to pay off the loan. We have Mangla Haat In Kolkata, there I used to sell poori sabzi. My mom used to make the pooris. Sometimes people did not even pay for the food that they ate,” Manoj Tiwary said on Lallantop. 

“I worked in factories of nut and bolts. This was around when I was around 14 years old. I got Rs 1200 per match when I played in U-16 level. So I did the maths and made sure I did well in cricket so that the  money always comes. I ran away from the factory. It was too hectic. The factory owner used to make us work.” 

When his debut came in 2008 it was not special. He slammed his maiden ODI century against West Indies in Chennai in 2011, but was benched for months after that game. MS Dhoni was the skipper of the side duting that time.

“He was the captain. Team India runs according to the planning of the skipper. In state teams, things are different but in Team India its all about the captain. If you see, during Kapil Dev‘s time it was he who ran the show, during Sunil Gavaskar‘s tenure it was his call, same was during Mohammad Azharuddin‘s tenure. After that Dada and so on. This will go on unless a strict administrator comes and makes a set rule,” Manoj Tiwary said. 

“You see Ajit Agarkar (current BCCI chief selector) and you feel he can take strong decisions. He can disagree with the coach. As far as me being dropped for 14 matches after scoring a century, if a player is dropped after scoring a century, obviously I want to know the answer. After century I was praised, but post that I did not have any inkling. At that time, youngsters used to feel afraid, including me. If you ask something, who knows what way it could have been taken. Career is on the line.

“The players who were in the team then were Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. After that the Tour which took place, they were not making runs. And here I was, even after making a century and winning Player of the Match, could not find a place in playing XI. I was dropped for 14 matches, which took place in a space of six months. At that time the dropped player did not get enough practice. I wanted to retire but due to family responsibility could not.”

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir© AFP

File photo of India coach Gautam Gambhir and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly© AFP

Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary – it’s safe to say that the history that these two former India players share is not nice. The two have often clashed on ground and recently Tiwary, a former India and Bengal batter, called him a ‘hypocrite coach’ . The two played for Kolkata Knight Riders and had a fight there too. During the 2015 Ranji Trophy, the duo clashed on field during a Delhi vs Bengal match and things turned ugly.  Manoj Tiwary revisited all those events and claimed that Gambhir targeted him unnecessarily.    

“When a new player emerges, he is given space in newspaper, may be that is one of the reasons why he got angry with me. If had a PR team, I could have been the India captain today,” Manoj Tiwary told Lallantop. 

“Once, we had a heated argument about my batting position at the Eden Gardens. I was very upset and had gone to the washroom. He barged in and said ‘This attitude won’t work. Tujhe kabhi khilaunga nahi (I won’t give you a game). This and that. I confronted him and asked him why he was talking that way. He was giving me a threat.  Wasim Akram also came in. He was our bowling coach, so he calmed things down, otherwise haathapai bhi ho sakta tha (There could have been a physical fight too). Akram said ‘You are the captain. Cool down’. He understood, he knew what was happening. He had said good things about my talent a few years ago.”

Tiwary also opened up on the heated argument that he had with Gambhir during a Ranji Trophy game in 2015.  

“I would get scolded without any reason. I couldn’t understand why he would target me. In fact, when I came to KKR in 2010, he and I got along nicely. But then he would lose his cool at me out of the blue. He would use very hurtful words. Then, when I started thinking about it, I realised that out of all the local boys at KKR, I was the one who used to perform consistently. And since I was a promising youngster, the media was giving me attention. So, he didn’t react to it well. That is what I believe,” Tiwary said.

“Leading up to our fight at the 2015 Ranji Trophy, he was angry at me. He though I was wasting time. H He was abusing from slips. Nobody should use such words. Ha, Ma-behen ki gaali. Then he said, ‘shaam ko mil, main tujhe maarta hu‘. (Meet me in the evening, I am going to thrash you). I said, ‘shaam ko kiu abhi maarlo (why evening? let’s fight now)’. I was also strong. Sourav Ganguly was part of the cricket administration then, and Gambhir said ‘He used his jack to enter there, and you have come behind him’. 

“In KKR, we had an argument. I was constantly getting demoted in the KKR batting order. In one of the friendly matches against Australia, I was the highest scorer. I had scored 129, while he [Gambhir] scored 110. Even then, he lost his cool. I was applying sunscreen when he came to me and shouted, ‘What are you doing here? Everybody else is on the ground’. Out of nowhere.”

Gautam Gambhir is currently the head coach of the Indian cricket team.

File photo of Indian cricket team© AFP

Rohit Sharma (L) and Virat Kohli© AFP

Former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary has gone on a rant in criticism of current senior national team head coach Gautam Gambhir. Tiwary and Gambhir have been teammates in the past, not just in the Indian Premier League but also for the Delhi state team. As Gambhir faces criticism over his poor handling of the Indian team, owing to the recent results against Australia and New Zealand in Tests, Tiwary went on to brand him a ‘hypocrite’, who doesn’t do what he himself preaches.

The criticism Gambhir faced recently, especially from Tiwary, saw India pacer Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, jump to his defence. But, Rana’s defence doesn’t surprise Tiwary.

“Why wouldn’t Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? 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,” said Tiwary in a chat with Hindustan Times.

“I have said nothing wrong. This is PR which I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don’t know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident,” he added.

Tiwary also opened some old chapters of his relationship with Gambhir, saying the latter even abused his family and said bad things about former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

“When he fought with me during the Ranji Trophy match in Delhi, everyone heard every word from Gautam Gambhir’s mouth. Whether he was talking bad about Sourav Ganguly or whether he was abusing my family, he was protected by a few of the individuals. This is the PR I am talking about. The process of picking players and selecting them in the playing XI is not happening properly. Akash Deep was dropped in favour of Harshit Rana. If you thought Harshit was so good, why didn’t you continue with him for the rest of the series? Akash Deep doesn’t have a voice,” said Tiwary.

Tiwary remains sceptical of Gambhir’s decisions in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He questioned the selection of players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal over other proven First-Class cricket performers.

“How was Devdutt Padikkal included in the Test squad, he was out of the equation. How did he come into the mix when Abhimanyu Easwaran was there, scoring so many runs non-stop? He has scored so many runs. Why wasn’t he selected and not played at No.3. These are the kinds of things happening, and the results are there for everyone to see,” he asserted.

Former India batter Manoj Tiwary on Thursday said current national team head coach Gautam Gambhir is “not the right choice” for the top job and he is only adept in mentoring IPL franchises, citing the side’s recent struggles to support his remarks. Under Gambhir, India lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years, and they hit a new low when they were whitewashed 0-3 by New Zealand at home, unprecedented in the country’s cricket history. Recently, India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, and Tiwary, who has had a dressing room altercation with Gambhir during their playing days in the IPL, took note of these reversals since his appointment as the coach.

“See, the results are there to be seen. Results don’t lie. Numbers don’t lie. The record speaks for itself,” Tiwary told PTI in an interview.

Now a deputy sports minister in the West Bengal government, the 39-year-old Tiwary and Gambhir had an altercation in the KKR dressing room during the 2013 Indian Premier League.

Questioning Gambhir’s coaching methods and his lack of success with the Indian team, Tiwary said, “he has not been able to carry on the good work which Rahul Dravid did.

“It will take a lot of time for him to get on the track, or to winning ways. Because I don’t see any experience behind his coaching the Indian team.

“In Test cricket or in one-day series, I don’t think he has any experience of coaching to be honest.” Since his appointment, India though beat Bangladesh across formats at home after winning a T20I series in Sri Lanka, which was Gambhir’s first assignment with the national team.

But Tiwary believes people with enough experience in coaching, such as VVS Laxman and Sairaj Bahutule, would have been the ideal choice for the India job.

“I think VVS Laxman and Sairaj Bahutule… these guys were in line to be the next head coach. And these guys have been with the NCA for so many years. When Rahul Dravid was not available, the next coach was an automatic choice.

“So, that process was getting followed. And in between how Gambhir came in, nobody knows. So, this result is bound to happen.

“When someone who does not have any experience and he comes up and takes up the job… And knowing him, how aggressive he is as an individual in certain aspects, this result is bound to happen,” Tiwary said.

He added, “So, the decision to appoint him as head coach, by just seeing (IPL) results, was wrong. In my opinion, it was not the right choice.

‘Pandit, others too deserve credit for KKR’s turnaround’

Gambhir was at the helm of affairs when Kolkata Knight Riders won their third IPL title last year and was also credited for reviving the side’s fortunes.

But Tiwary challenged the narrative, saying he was not the only one responsible for the team’s triumph as the franchise also had in its ranks a proven domestic coach in Chandrakant Pandit.

“Gambhir just had experience of mentoring KKR and Lucknow. He had no experience in coaching, that has not been an aspect with him. And when you don’t have experience of coaching, then it becomes difficult for you to perform.” Speaking about Gambhir’s involvement in a triumphant last season for KKR, Tiwary said, “when players like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were not performing well, obviously he gave them confidence. There is no doubt about that.

“But you tell me, what did Chandrakant Pandit do as a coach then? So, you mean to say, all the players and Chandrakant Pandit had no role in KKR’s turnaround.”

‘Ashwin was insulted’

When the discussion turned to R Ashwin’s abrupt retirement from the game in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Tiwary said the whole episode has not been handled well by the team management.

“I see Ashwin was insulted. See players like Washington Sundar and Tanush Kotian… they are all quality spinners and performed well in first-class cricket.

“But when you have a player of Ashwin’s calibre, what is the need for you to bring in Washington in the home series where Ashwin is there, Jadeja is there, and Kuldeep is there, and make him bowl more overs than Ashwin. Is that not an insult to Ashwin? Will he just carry on, after giving so many match-winning performances? He will not come and say that because he is a nice guy.

“But one day he will definitely come out and he will share his experience. This is not the right process. They are also players, and they also need some patting on the back and dignity as well,” Tiwary said.

Tiwary represented India in 12 ODIs and scored an unbeaten hundred and a half-century in the format. He also appeared in three T20 Internationals.