'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.'
Former India player Manoj Tiwary slammed the national selectors for stripping Rohit Sharma of the India ODI captaincy despite the team's stellar showing in white ball cricket in the last couple of years.
Under Rohit's captaincy, India won the ICC Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup in the space of nine months, while they lost in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup to Australia -- their only loss in the last three ICC tournaments.
Rohit was replaced as ODI captain by Shubman Gill. Rohit along with Virat Kohli will make their return to international cricket after nearly seventh months in the three match ODI series in Australia, starting on Sunday.
Tiwary, a former Bengal stalwart who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit and Kohli deserve greater respect.
"I get a feeling that the team management only doesn't want these two greats in the team for the 2027 World Cup," the outspoken Tiwary, now a Trinamool Congress MLA and a West Bengal minister, told Rediff's Harish Kotian.
What is your views on the shock decision to sack Rohit Sharma as ODI captain despite leading India to the ICC Champions Trophy? Do you agree with the selectors' decision to look ahead at the future?
I don't agree with this decision to remove Rohit as the ODI captain. The reason why I don't agree with the selectors is because if you want to remove a captain you need some valid reason, like if he is not performing as a player, maybe you can relieve him of the captaincy but in case of Rohit, he has been doing extremely well with the bat.
The other reason can be if the team is not winning under his captaincy, but again that is not valid in Rohit's case because in the last tournament he led India to the ICC Champions Trophy title.
And in the other big tournament before that, in the 2023 World Cup, we were unlucky to lose to Australia in the final. If you see that match, Travis Head had a few close shaves which proved crucial. Rohit has won you two ICC trophies in one year including the T20 World Cup last year.
If you see how things have panned out in the last few weeks, it becomes clear that Rohit is not part of the selectors' plan for the 2027 World Cup. I think they are just waiting for the right opportunity to drop him, if he doesn't do well in Australia then he will be out of the ODI team.
This is wrong because Rohit deserves more respect. Whether the selectors were in communication with him or not before announcing the decision, that is a separate thing altogether.
The selectors take a lot of big decisions using the word 'transition' even though it is not required at that point of time. There is no need to insult a big player like Rohit in such a manner. His achievements speak for himself.
In such a short of span after taking over as the captain, he has built such a fantastic atmosphere and culture in the team with Rahul Dravid, I think people have forgotten all that.
I can see so many fans are unhappy with the decision and I agree with them because Rohit deserved to captain India in the 2027 World Cup. All the players enjoyed playing under him, no one ever said a wrong thing about his captaincy. He has a superb captaincy record, he has won five IPL titles.
Rohit is a selfless cricketer, he always thinks of the team first. And we have seen that selfless approach during the big games like the ICC Champions Trophy or the T20 World Cup or the 2023 World Cup. He never cared about losing his wicket, he always looked to attack the bowlers in the early overs and put the opposition under pressure from the start.
Everything was going on so well but the selectors took a rash decision thinking about the World Cup which is two years away. Something doesn't feel right. I am feeling bad, that's why I am speaking about this issue, it is not that I am looking to make headlines or sensationalise the issue.
A captain who is giving you results, you are removing him giving excuse of his age. How can age determine whether he is good or not? If a person is physically fit, performing well with the bat and leading team to titles as captain, what is the need to make a change? I can't understand this decision.
Even with the great Virat Kohli it seems that the selectors want him out of the ODI team in the near future?
I get a feeling that the team management only doesn't want these two greats in the team for the 2027 World Cup. It is important to find the root cause of the issue.
Everyone knows that the relationship between Kohli and Coach Gautam Gambhir hasn't been great in the past. If you see how things were under Dravid when Kohli and Rohit looked relaxed, now even though Gambhir can be seen smiling with Kohli, but you get the feeling that something is brewing inside.
The decision is someone else's but Chief Celector Ajit Agarkar is being portrayed as the villain behind it. Agarkar is a strong individual but it seems that someone else is forcing him to take the decisions.
You have been part of the Indian team in the past. Have you seen this before where some deserving individuals are sidelined for no reason, while some others are getting preferential treatment?
Favouritism has always been a part of Indian cricket. Whenever a new coach is appointed, he will always get his favourite players into the team, he will also pick a new captain who will listen to him. Some coaches want to run their own kingdom. And this is what happened in the case of Rohit and Kohli.
There are so many rumours floating around that Rohit and Kohli will be asked to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy to prove their fitness and form. But these people are forgetting that they are talking about the two greatest players of all-time in white ball cricket.
In the past too, there have been times when their place in the team has been questioned but every time they have answered their critics with the bat.
No one in the current team can even think of coming close to their achievements. Rohit's world record of three double centuries will be impossible to beat for anyone, while Kohli averages an amazing 58 in ODIs.
You have seen Mohammed Shami from close quarters when you played for Bengal. Was it unfair to sack him from the ODI team despite his superb record in big tournaments? Shami has hit back at the selectors by saying that if he is fit for the Ranji Trophy, he is also fit for 50 overs cricket.
I agree Shami was unfairly sacked because he has been a consistent performer with the ball for India.
There should be transparency and fairness in team selection. People should be made aware of why a big player like Shami was not picked.
There has been some debate about Harshit Rana, I feel has great potential to become a very good fast bowler for India. He has all the skills to be a top bowler but his fitness is a question mark for me at the moment.
You should only include inexperienced fast bowlers when the regulars are injured.
But despite having someone like Shami, who is fully fit now, you have picked Harshit Rana who has not done anything special so far in the chances he has got, it baffles me completely.
Just because he is young or maybe he is the coach's favourite or because of the coach's gut feeling, it doesn't work that way. With Gambhir that has been the case, he has picked players out of the blue to play for India.
What has been your experience playing under Gambhir's captaincy at KKR? Have you also faced some kind of discrimination or snub?
Yes, I have experienced it. Whenever I did well at KKR, he used to get angry on me for no reason. I have seen him from close quarters. People will feel I am speaking against Gambhir, but what I am saying is from my own experience with him.
I am not speculating anything, I am just saying the truth from my experience. He did wrong with me at KKR, when I was batting well he was purposely sending me down the order, stating that it is the team's requirement.
You can manipulate anything claiming that you are doing it for the team's sake but there has to be some respect for the individual, for what he has achieved.
If you see the India's Test series in Australia last time, a player who was part of the squad (Sarfaraz Khan) didn't play any Test match but they called up a player (Devdutt Padikkal) from outside the squad and made him play one Test match.
Have you seen this before that the selectors have given you a set of players, but the coach goes and pick someone from outside that squad to play in a Test match?
Now you tell me, what is Sarfaraz Khan's mistake that he has been completely banished from the Indian Test team? He has scored runs averaging nearly 60-70 in the last few seasons of the Ranji Trophy. Even the Test series against New Zealand at home which we lost 0-3, all the Indian batters failed, but Sarfaraz had played one good knock of 150 in the first Test.
But they took the excuse of his batting style and technique and claimed he will not do well in Australia, which is wrong.
Sarfaraz has his own technique and style of scoring runs, he plays in a different manner and he has been very successful at it. He deserved to get a chance to play a Test match in Australia. If he fails, then maybe you can bring in other players but try him once.
Even with Abhimanyu Easwaran, he didn't get a single match in Australia or in England despite being part of the team so long.
You have successfully completed the BCCI's Level 2 coaching degree and you have experience of playing nearly 20 years of first class cricket. Should the head coach's role go to an individual, who has completed the BCCI coaching course and also has experience of coaching a team at the domestic or international level?
What is your take on Gambhir being appointed as the coach without any prior experience as head coach or having done any coaching course?
I don't think it is the right procedure to appoint any coach. Then what is the use of BCCI conducting Level 2, Level 3 coaching course at the NCA?
If that is the case then whoever has the more influence can become the coach.
If they had followed the right process then someone from the NCA would have become the India head coach. Later, they appointed Sitanshu Kotak, who was with the NCA, as the assistant coach of the Indian team because he is a qualified coach.
If you can appoint the assistant coach then why not appoint the head coach as someone with experience or qualification.
Why didn't they pick V V S Laxman or Sairaj Bahutule, who have been with the NCA for so long or someone like Chandrakant Pandit, a coach with a proven track record in domestic circuit.
As a coach of any team, his main aim is to always get the best out the players in the squad and help them win matches.
Tell me, will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.
If Rohit and Kohli are not able to get the runs in Australia, do you think they will be shown the door?
Obviously, because then they will have a reason to throw them out of the team. The writing is on the wall for the two players as far as I see it.
I think if Virat doesn't score then he himself will give up.
And even if Rohit and Virat don't quit, they will be forced to retire or won't be considered again for selection.
They are legends of the game. They wouldn't want to be disrespected so they might leave quietly, without giving the selectors a chance to humiliate them by dropping them from the team.
Gambhir could have shown his support for Rohit and Kohli at the press conference after the second Test against the West Indies, but he refused to give any assurances on their future and the World Cup.