Published: Jan 23, 2025, 08:45 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 23, 2025, 08:45 PM (IST)
Gautam Gambhir has a nature which causes him to behave very straightforward. Though this has brought him success, it has also brought a lot of problems to him, even striking some rivalries with some people. Taking that in mind, one of the rift Gambhir has is with Manoj Tiwary.
One of the most talked altercations was the fight between Gambhir and Tiwary during the 2015 Ranji Trophy match, where Delhi was facing Bengal. That altercation was not the first between the two, but was merely one of them.
Manoj Tiwary has not held himself back from criticizing Gambhir in the past, and now has done so one more time in a new interview. Tiwary spoke about back in his time with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and how he and Gambhir got along well at first before things started going south.
“I would get scolded without any reason. I couldn’t understand why he would target me. In fact, when I came to KKR in 2010, he and I got along nicely. But then he would lose his cool at me out of the blue. He would use very hurtful words. Then, when I started thinking about it, I realised that out of all the local boys at KKR, I was the one who used to perform consistently. And since I was a promising youngster, the media was giving me attention. So, he didn’t react to it well. That is what I believe,” Tiwary said.
“Leading up to our fight at the 2015 Ranji Trophy, he was angry at me. In KKR, we had an argument. I was constantly getting demoted in the KKR batting order. In one of the friendly matches against Australia, I was the highest scorer. I had scored 129, while he [Gambhir] scored 110. Even then, he lost his cool. I was applying sunscreen when he came to me and shouted, ‘What are you doing here? Everybody else is on the ground’. Out of nowhere,” he added.
Although Gambhir and Manoj previously had disagreements, there was one altercation that even KKR’s assistant coach Wasim Akram had witnessed, that seemed to have permanently harmed their relationship. According to Tiwary, Gambhir once threatened him, stating that the batter will never play for KKR ever again.
“Once, we had a heated argument about my batting position at the Eden Gardens. I was upset and had gone to the washroom. He barged in and said ‘This attitude won’t work. Tujhe kabhi khilaunga nahi (I won’t give you a game). This and that. I never liked such words. He was giving me a threat. Aaj ke baad, tujhe kabhi khilaunga nahi. Wasim Akram also came in. He was our bowling coach, so he calmed things down. He said ‘You are the captain. Cool down’ He understood, he knew what was happening. He had said good things about my talent a few years ago,” Tiwary said.
Tiwary clarified that he did not speak about this washroom incident with Shah Rukh Khan, the team’s owner. However, this proved to be the reason for what happened at Kotla in 2015. Tiwary broke his ties with KKR the next season and joined Delhi Capitals(known as Delhi Daredevils at that time) for the following two seasons.
