Former India batter Manoj Tiwary has no love lost for current head coach Gautam Gambhir. The world knows the duo don’t get along, and their equation soured after they clashed with one another during a first-class game in Delhi. Tiwary has repeatedly alleged that Gambhir abused him throughout. Now once again, Tiwary took aim at Gambhir, calling him out for his “hypocrisy” on certain issues. The former Indian batter brought Gambhir’s old interviews into the equation, saying the current head coach, back in the day, had spoken about not playing against Pakistan until the cross-border terrorism stops.
It must be mentioned that Gambhir also gave the statement earlier this year in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. However, the Asia Cup tie is on for now and it remains to be seen what the head coach has to say in the days coming up.
Tiwary questioned the upcoming match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Earlier this year, 26 tourists were killed in Kashmir following a terrorist attack. As a retaliation process, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Calls are growing for India to boycott Pakistan in multi-nation tournaments as well. However, the match remains on track for now following the Sports Ministry’s announcement that India will play against Pakistan in multilateral events.
India and Pakistan could play against each other three times in the Asia Cup. They will first meet in the group stage on September 14 in Dubai. If they make it that far, the two teams will play in the Super 4 and final.
“I always felt that he’s someone who is a hypocrite. He’s a hypocrite because he’s the one who said that India, when he was not the coach of Team India, said that India and Pakistan should never play a match between them. What will he do now? He’s the coach of the team that’s going to play Pakistan in the Asia Cup,” Tiwary told CrickTracker.
“Why can’t he just resign and say that I will not be part of the team India because you are playing with Pakistan?” he added.
Several opposition MPs have written to the Indian government, asking to step in and stop the upcoming Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan.
Tiwary criticises Yashasvi Jaiswal snub
India’s Asia Cup squad was announced last week. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side while Shubman Gill will serve as his deputy. Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been kept out of the team. The left-handed batter is a part of the reserves.
As soon as the squad was made public, an old video clip went viral on social media. In it, Gambhir spoke in favour of Jaiswal’s inclusion in the T20I lineup. It must be mentioned that the clip is from a time when Gambhir was not named India’s head coach.
Tiwary brought this video clip in the equation as he called out Gambhir for once again not standing up to his words and doing the exact opposite after becoming the head coach.
“He’s the one who said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of the players who is the future of Team India, and also he’s someone who will not be kept outside T20. He should not be kept outside T20. He should be given a longer run. And now, he’s not there in the team,” said Tiwary.
“So, a lot of things apart from these couple of statements where he said, and he has just done the opposite. So, I always felt that he’s a hypocrite, and he’s always been a hypocrite,” he added.
