Manoj Tiwary has openly slammed Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana for playing “PR” games for Gautam Gambhir following their cry on social media in the wake of his fiery outburst at the Indian cricket team head coach. The former Indian cricketer made some controversial remarks on Gambhir after Team India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 debacle in Australia.
The rivalry between Manoj Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir took an explosive turn recently, reigniting tensions that date back to a fiery fight during a Ranji Trophy match in 2015 between Bengal and Delhi. Despite once sharing the Kolkata Knight Riders’ dressing room in the IPL, they have remained at odds, and Tiwary has now questioned his place as India’s head coach.
Manoj Tiwary accuses Gautam Gambhir of bias and hypocrisy
Recently, Manoj Tiwary didn’t hold back, criticizing Gambhir for his lack of coaching experience and suggesting that stalwarts like VVS Laxman and Sairaj Bahutule would be better suited for the role. Adding fuel to the fire, Tiwary labeled Gambhir a hypocrite for selecting foreign coaches Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate for his staff, despite previously criticizing the involvement of overseas coaches in Indian cricket.
The former Indian batter also took aim at Gambhir for taking the entire credit for KKR’s success in the IPL, crediting players like Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine, and himself for the franchise’s success in the IPL. Tiwary accused Gambhir of leveraging a favorable environment and PR machinery to hog the limelight, overshadowing the contributions of the entire team.
These comments didn’t go down well with Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana—both have played under Gambhir at the KKR, and the duo slammed the Bengal MP for his unwarranted criticism of the Indian head coach. They called Gambhir a selfless and able coach, saying Tiwary’s remarks reflected his ‘personal insecurities.’
Manoj Tiwary accuses Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana of backing Gautam Gambhir for favoritism
Now, reacting to Ranas’ attack on social media, Tiwary said that Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana are just doing PR for Gambhir, as he favored them during their time at the KKR. He also accused Gambhir of favoritism, alleging that Harshit supported him only because he showed bias in team selections during India’s Test series against Australia.
Manoj Tiwary was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times: “Why wouldn’t Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn’t have that much first-class experience.”
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PR is quite evident: Manoj Tiwary
Tiwary signed off by saying, “Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him. I have said nothing wrong. This is the PR that I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don’t know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident.”