Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary heavily criticized skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir for the Men in Blue’s Test series defeat to New Zealand on home soil.
India’s defeat to the Kiwis in the Pune Test marked the end of an 18-series winning streak at home for Team India. Following the embarrassing loss, Rohit and Gambhir have come under the scanner for their approach and team selection.
During a discussion, Tiwary warned the Indian skipper and the team management for the developing cracks in the dressing room.
“India’s biggest enemy was the weather in Bengaluru, because they had prepared a turning track. After winning the toss India had the opportunity to field, but I don’t know why they opted to bat first, and that is where it all started. First, they got the team selection wrong, then after losing the first Test, they made three changes,” Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
Tiwary believes that the selection calls that the team management took in the second Test can lead to disturbances or even cracks within the team.
“Well, you could call that Washington Sundar change an inspiring one, but that doesn’t mean that Kuldeep Yadav could not get them wickets. So they felt the dearth of batting options, and hence, they wanted Sundar to contribute lower down the order. That is why India went out of their way to get him in,” Tiwary said.
“What this will lead to is in the coming days there will be a lot of disturbances in the team, there will be cracks in the team. You already have a spin-bowling all-rounder in Axar Patel, who picked up wickets in spinning conditions previously. But you ignored him and then benched Kuldeep in the second Test. You did not play Akash Deep in Bengaluru, but included him in the second Test, where you did not give him the ball in the second innings. Then you did not start with Jasprit Bumrah in the attack. All these things will backfired,” Tiwary added.
The Indian team will be looking to end the 3-match series with a win in the final Test which is set to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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