Former India international Manoj Tiwary took to social media on Sunday (Janaury 12) to clarify his stance on his viral quote about India head coach Gautam Gambhir that had done the rounds over the past few days.
In an interview with News18 Bangla earlier this week, Tiwary had been asked for his opinion on Gambhir following India's 3-1 Test series loss to Australia. His quotes from the interview had gone viral after he called Gambhir a "hypocrite".
"Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite. He doesn’t do what he says. Where is the captain (Rohit) from? Mumbai. Where is Abhishek Nayar from? Mumbai. They got a chance to put a Mumbai player in the forefront. There is no one to speak for Jalaj Saxena. He performs well but keeps quiet," Tiwary had said.
The former India batter also touched upon the IPL title that he had won as a player alongside Gambhir in 2012 with Kolkata Knight Riders, saying, "Gambhir’s captaincy didn’t guide KKR to the title single-handedly. We all performed as a unit.
"Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla and I performed with the bat and Sunil Narine bowled exceptionally well. That is why we won the first IPL title. But who took the credit? There is an environment and PR that allows him [Gambhir] to take all the credit."
In the past, Gambhir has often pointed to his role in helping India win the 2011 World Cup, his effort of 97 in the final overshadowed somewhat by captain MS Dhoni's knock of 91*. Dhoni had also struck the winning blow with a six, and a popular refrain from Gambhir has been, "One six did not win us the World Cup."
Tiwary: I have no need to follow the tide
Following the circulation of Tiwary's quotes, another former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra, said on his YouTube channel that Tiwary's statements came from him simply following the current landscape, which had seen other prominent media personalities criticise Gambhir. In a video posted on X on Sunday, Tiwary responded to Chopra's comments.
"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.
Read more: India's squad for 2025 Champions Trophy, live updates: Bumrah to miss group stage?
"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.
"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."
Tiwary also went on to say in his video that he did not need to take credit for KKR's trophy, even saying that he felt it was unfortunate that even after scoring a century for India, he is remembered more for performing well in the IPL.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
