January 11, 2025

Former KKR Player Alleges Gautam Gambhir Abused His Family and Insulted Sourav Ganguly

Manoj Tiwary also raised concerns about Gautam Gambhir’s choices during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, questioning the selection of players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal over other seasoned performers with strong records in First-Class cricket.

Amid India’s disappointing performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and New Zealand in Tests, former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary launched a scathing critique of the team’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir. Speaking to Hindustan Times on January 10, Tiwary alleged that Gambhir had insulted his family and made disparaging remarks about former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Tiwary further accused Gambhir of failing to practice what he preaches, describing him as a hypocrite. Revisiting his own strained relationship with Gambhir and the latter’s rocky history with Ganguly, Tiwary unearthed past controversies in his comments.

According to Hindustan Times, Tiwary was quoted as saying, “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,”.

Gautam Gambhir’s Perspective on India’s Playing XI Strategy

Tiwary’s criticism emerged shortly after Harshit Rana openly defended the Indian head coach, stepping into the conversation to support his choices and leadership. However, Tiwary expressed that Rana’s defense of Gambhir was entirely predictable, given their shared association and professional rapport. He remarked that such backing was expected and didn’t carry much weight in addressing the broader concerns he raised about team selections and strategy. According to Tiwary, this support seemed more like an attempt to deflect criticism rather than a substantive contribution to the ongoing discussion.

“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,” Tiwary shared these remarks during a conversation 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.

“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.

Controversy Surrounds Gambhir’s Selection for the BGT

Tiwary also expressed strong criticism of Gambhir’s decisions during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, particularly questioning the selection of relatively inexperienced players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal, who were chosen over more accomplished and seasoned First-Class performers with proven track records.

“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.

Additionally, consider: “‘Virat Kohli Deserved a Ban’: England Legend’s Bold Take on Indian Superstar After Sam Konstas Shoulder Bump Incident”