'Personal insecurities': Harshit, Nitish defend Gambhir after ex-India cricketer's controversial remark
Gautam Gambhir has recently come under sharp criticism after India’s 1-3 series defeat to Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
FollowKolkata Knight Riders’ stars Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana came out in strong support of India head coach Gautam Gambhir after former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary made a controversial remark against him.
Gambhir has recently come under sharp criticism after India’s 1-3 series defeat to Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 42-year-old was accused of defensive tactics throughout the series, believed to be one of the reasons for Team India’s failure to defend the BGT title.
Manoj Tiwary, who played under Gautam Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders and won the IPL title in 2012 with the team, accused his PR (public relations) of taking all the credit for the team’s success. Former Indian cricketer called Gambhir ‘hypocrite’ as his assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Morne Morkel didn’t have the courage to go against his directions.
“Gambhir didn’t guide KKR to the title single-handedly as we all performed as a unit.“Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine and I, all contributed to the cause. But who took the credit? There is an environment and PR that allows him to take all the credit." Tiwary told News18 Bangla.
“Gautam Gambhir is a hypocrite. He doesn’t do what he says. The captain (Rohit) is from Mumbai, Abhishek Nayar is from Mumbai. Rohit has been pushed to the forefront. There is no one to speak for Jalaj Saxena. He performs well but keeps quiet
“What is the use of a bowling coach? Whatever the coach says, he will agree. Morne Morkel came from Lucknow Super Giants. Abhishek Nayar was at Kolkata Knight Riders with Gambhir and the Indian head coach knows that he will not go against his instructions," he added.
Reacting to comments by Manoj Tiwary against Gautam Gambhir, Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana defended former Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor. Taking to his X handle (formerly Twitter), Nitish said that Tiwary’s criticism is rooted in his ‘personal insecurities’ rather based on facts, while hailing Gambhir as the ‘most selfless player’.
“Criticism should be based on facts not personal insecurities. Gauti bhaiyya is one of the most selfless players I’ve ever met. He shoulders responsibility in times of distress like no other. Performance doesn’t need any PR. The trophies speak for themselves," Rana wrote.
Harshit Rana took to his Instagram story along with the picture of Gambhir and wrote, “Criticizing someone due to personal insecurities is not good. Gauri Bhaiya is someone who thinks more for others than himself. He always backs players when they are down and puts them in the limelight when things go our way. He has shown this on multiple occasions. He has a lot of knowledge on how to turn games in your favor."
Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana were guided by Gautam Gambhir during his time at Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor in the last IPL season. Gambhir was appointed as the head coach of India after Rahul Dravid’s tenure came to an end following the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup triumph last year. However, he had a shaky start to his coaching stint, with India losing the ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years and the three-match Test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand at home.
Gautam Gambhir’s next assignment is the white-ball series against the touring England, followed by Champions Trophy 2025.
subscribe to Asianet Newsable WhatsApp channel by clicking here.
