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Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary feels head coach Gautam Gambhir had a role to play in Rohit Sharma’s removal as India’s ODI captain, accusing him of likely ‘influencing’ Ajit Agarkar into making the call. Tiwary, whose beef with Gambhir is nothing new, reckons the decision-makers disrespected Rohit by taking the post away from him. Rohit had already retired from T20Is in June of 2024 and then from Tests last May, but was going strong in ODIs, hoping to be in the best shape of his career en route to the 2027 World Cup. However, when India’s squad for the Australia ODIs was announced in October, Shubman Gill was named as the new captain. The decision raised a few eyebrows, especially given that Rohit had won the ICC Champions Trophy in his last match as India captain.
Tiwary believes that although Agarkar is a strong character and takes decisions on his own accord, he could not have taken the decision solely and that Gambhir’s take would have certainly played a role in Rohit’s removal as captain.
“I don’t know what the main cause is. But knowing Ajit Agarkar, he is a personality. He is a decision maker. He will not take a step back in taking such steps. But whether he was influenced by someone to fire the gun from his shoulder is something we need to look at. A lot of things happen behind the scenes, which makes 1+1 2. Maybe the decision was made by the chief selector, and he was very upfront about it. Naturally, the coach’s inputs must be there. You cannot make the decision on your own. Both are equally responsible for whatever decision was made,” Tiwary told Sports Today.
Also Read: ‘Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma always talk to Gautam Gambhir, discuss World Cup 2027 plans’
Tiwary says he’s lost interest in watching India’s ODI matches now that Rohit is no longer captain, despite the presence of Virat Kohli. Rohit too isn’t the same. He isn’t at his animated best, and even though the cameras capture him having the odd laugh every now and then, often even getting into the bowlers’ ears, the Rohit that once made the iconic ‘garden boys’ remark has taken a backseat.
The allegations don’t end there
Tiwary fails to understand the logic behind Rohit’s removal as ODI captain, mentioning that it doesn’t make sense for the selectors to question his intention or leadership skills. The transition to Gill was inevitable but could have been handled better, with Rohit perhaps asked to continue as captain until the New Zealand ODIs.
“See, there has been a lot of inconsistency in picking the playing XI, in my opinion. If I have to be brutally honest with you, I have lost interest in watching the ODI games. The things that have panned out of late, when the T20 World Cup-winning captain and the Champions Trophy-winning captain is removed from the captaincy, and the responsibility is given to the new guy, which I felt was not required. I have played with Rohit. We have a connection, so I didn’t like how it panned out. I felt it was disrespectful to a cricketer who has given so much to the cricket lovers across the world. From that day, I lost a bit of interest. A lot of controversies, and I feel that is happening because the clarity is not there,” added Tiwary.
“It would have made this decision more sensible, because Rohit is a proven captain. He has won two ICC trophies. We nearly missed out in 2023. I felt Travis Head was lucky; it was his day. If we had won that, Rohit would have ended up with three trophies. I just wonder why you had doubts regarding Rohit playing the 2027 World Cup. That means you doubted his abilities. Why would you do that? When he has scored three double hundreds, there was no question of doubting him. A big player always gets the runs. The mindset with which he played in 2023, he is such a selfless cricketer, he wanted to make a statement. Doubting his ability was a big mistake, and then removing him from captaincy was a big mistake as well. I thought it shouldn’t have happened. It cannot be cricketing logic behind his removal as the captain.”
