Former cricketer says Gambhir ‘not the right choice’ for top job

Under Gambhir, India lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years, and they hit a new low when they were whitewashed 0-3 by New Zealand at home, unprecedented in the country's cricket history

Kolkata: Former India batter Manoj Tiwary on Thursday said current national team head coach Gautam Gambhir is “not the right choice” for the top job and he is only adept in mentoring IPL franchises, citing the side’s recent struggles to support his remarks.

Under Gambhir, India lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years, and they hit a new low when they were whitewashed 0-3 by New Zealand at home, unprecedented in the country’s cricket history.

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Recently, India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, and Tiwary, who has had a dressing room altercation with Gambhir during their playing days in the IPL, took note of these reversals since his appointment as the coach.

“See, the results are there to be seen. Results don’t lie. Numbers don’t lie. The record speaks for itself,” Tiwary said. Now a deputy sports minister in the West Bengal government, the 39-year-old Tiwary and Gambhir had an altercation in the KKR dressing room during the 2013 Indian Premier League.

Questioning Gambhir’s coaching methods and his lack of success with the Indian team, Tiwary said, “he has not been able to carry on the good work which Rahul Dravid did. “It will take a lot of time for him to get on the track, or to winning ways. Because, I don’t see any experience behind his coaching the Indian team.”

“In Test cricket or in one-day series, I don’t think he has any experience of coaching to be honest,” he further said. Since his appointment, India though beat Bangladesh across formats at home after winning a T20I series in Sri Lanka, which was Gambhir’s first assignment with the national team.

But Tiwary believes people with enough experience in coaching, such as VVS Laxman and Sairaj Bahutule, would have been the ideal choice for the India job.

“I think VVS Laxman and Sairaj Bahutule… these guys were in line to be the next head coach. And these guys have been with the NCA for so many years. When Rahul Dravid was not available, the next coach was an automatic choice. So, that process was getting followed. And in between how Gambhir came in, nobody knows. So, this result is bound to happen. “When someone who does not have any experience, and he comes up and takes up the job… And knowing him, how aggressive he is as an individual in certain aspects, this result is bound to happen,” Tiwary said.

He added, “So, the decision to appoint him as head coach, by just seeing (IPL) results, was wrong. In my opinion, it was not the right choice.