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Nitish Rana has said Manoj Tiwary’s criticism of Gautam Gambhir is rooted in his ‘personal insecurities’.
Gautam Gambhir has lost six of his 10 Tests as India’s head coach.
Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Nitish Rana has come out in strong support of India men’s head coach Gautam Gambhir, who recently found himself under fire from Manoj Tiwary. Rana said Tiwary’s comments on Gambhir — that his PR (or Public Relations) allows him to take ‘all the credit’ for his success at KKR — were a reflection of his ‘insecurities’.
Tiwary’s comments had come after India’s 3-1 series loss in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which had seen Gambhir criticized for his defensive tactics. Tiwary played a few seasons at KKR under Gambhir’s captaincy, including the title-winning IPL 2012. Rana, meanwhile, considers Gambhir as his mentor and won IPL 2024 with him.
“Criticism should be based on facts not personal insecurities. Gauti bhaiyya is one of the most selfless players I’ve ever met. He shoulders responsibility in times of distress like no other. Performance doesn’t need any PR. The trophies speak for themselves,” Rana wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Tiwary’s comments came in an interview with News18 Bangla. He even called Gambhir a ‘hypocrite’ saying that his assistant coaches, Abhishek Nayar and Morne Morkel, didn’t have the courage to go against the head coach.
“Gambhir didn’t guide KKR to the title single-handedly as we all performed as a unit,” Tiwary told News18 Bangla. “Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine and I, all contributed to the cause. But who took the credit? There is an environment and PR that allows him to take all the credit.”
“Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite. He doesn’t do what he says. The captain (Rohit) is from Mumbai, Abhishek Nayar is from Mumbai. Rohit has been pushed to the forefront. There is no one to speak for Jalaj Saxena. He performs well but keeps quiet,” Tiwary said. “What is the use of a bowling coach? Whatever the coach says, he will agree. Morne Morkel came from Lucknow Super Giants. Abhishek Nayar was at Kolkata Knight Riders with Gambhir and the Indian head coach knows that he will not go against his instructions,” he added.
India have lost six of the 10 Tests since Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid as head coach. His next big assignment is the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the UAE which begins in February.
