Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has voiced serious concerns over head coach Gautam Gambhir’s approach to Test cricket, citing an overdependence on all-rounders and a lack of trust in specialist players. While Gambhir has no formal coaching background, his success as mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who won the IPL 2024 under his guidance, has earned him praise—particularly in white-ball formats.
Tiwary, who once shared the KKR dressing room with Gambhir, feels the current Indian Test side is missing consistency and a long-term vision. He believes Gambhir’s tactics, though potentially effective in limited-overs cricket, are proving to be counterproductive in the red-ball format.
“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,” 𝑻𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Inconsistent Selection Decisions Hurting Team Balance
Tiwary criticised the pattern of rapidly rotating players under Gambhir’s leadership, particularly the practice of dropping underperformers and bringing in players from outside the initial squad. Citing the India-New Zealand series, he pointed to the inclusion of Washington Sundar ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin, who was already in the team.
The former batter also flagged several selection inconsistencies during the ongoing England Test series. For instance, Sai Sudharsan, who played the first Test, was dropped immediately afterwards. Similarly, Karun Nair was promoted to No. 3, raising eyebrows over the lack of planning. He also highlighted the case of Harshit Rana, who debuted in Australia but was soon sidelined. Now, newcomer Anshul Kamboj has made his debut in the Manchester Test.
“𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒌𝒌𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒂. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒍 𝑲𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒋 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒚.
Gambhir’s Approach Could Undermine Player Confidence
Tiwary believes that such frequent changes are damaging the team’s core strength and undermining player morale. He emphasised the importance of backing players over a sustained period, allowing them to grow in confidence and deliver consistent performances.
He also questioned the repeated exclusion of spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has a proven track record in Tests, calling it one of the most confusing decisions by the current management.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑻𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕-𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔.”
As the England tour continues, Tiwary’s critique adds to the growing discussion around whether Gambhir’s selection strategy suits the demands of Test cricket—or if it needs a re-evaluation to restore clarity and stability in India’s red-ball setup.
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