Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has made a massive statement that star players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma wanted to play the Test but were forced to hang up their boots due to the poor environment of the team. Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirement from the longest format earlier this year in the space of a week before the five-match Test series against England.
He shared his thoughts on head coach Gautam Gambhir’s statement from blaming the team’s transition for the shock loss in the 1st Test against South Africa, Tiwary said the word transition has no meaning in our country considering the immense talent of our nation. He also mentioned that Rohit and Kohli were dropped from the team due to unnecessary transition despite their commitment to play the longest format.
“All this talk of a ‘transition phase’ – I don’t agree with it. India doesn’t need a transition. New Zealand or Zimbabwe needs a transition. Our domestic cricket is full of talented performers waiting for chances. Because of this unnecessary transition, our star players – like Virat and Rohit – who wanted to play Test cricket and protect its sanctity, have slowly retreated because of the atmosphere created around them. Tiy Today.
Tiwari he also hit out at Gambhir for blaming the spin batters technique and not helping them get better at it as a coach.
“You can’t blame players’ technique after a loss. As a coach, your job is to teach, not to blame. If the batsmen didn’t have a solid defence, why weren’t they coached before the match? When he played, Gambhir himself was a good spin player, so he should teach more. The results are not in India’s favour,” he added.
Meanwhile, India, who lost the first Test in Kolkata, have their backs against the wall as they desperately need to win the second match in Guwahati to avoid losing the second series at home. After the hosts failed to convert the order in the series opener, it remains to be seen what kind of pitch India will choose for the second Test with the series on the line.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
November 19, 2025
