Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has publicly expressed concerns over head coach Gautam Gambhir’s plan, citing his overreliance on all-rounders and apparent lack of trust in specialist players. While Gambhir has no prior coaching experience, he guided the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL 2024 title.

Tiwary, who shared the KKR locker room with Gambhir during their playing days, says the Indian Test team is currently lacking consistency and clear direction under the new management. He recognised that Gambhir may have established a brave approach in the white-ball formats, but believes the red-ball setting suffers in comparison.

“I have said it earlier also that Test matches are a game of specialists but we’re keeping them out and trusting all-rounders more,” Tiwary told the crowd.

“Since the arrival of head coach Gautam Gambhir, there has been a pattern of dismissing underperforming players from the group and adding players from the outside. This was evident in the India-Zealand series, when we chose Washington Sundar from the outside over Ashwin, who was already in the squad,” he continued.

Tiwary pointed out the inconsistency in team selections under Gambhir, highlighting how recent decisions during the England series reflect a lack of clarity.

He noted that Sai Sudharsan was picked for the first Test but dropped immediately after, while Karun Nair was pushed up to No. 3. He also cited Harshit Rana’s surprise debut in Australia, only to find himself out of the setup since, and now Anshul Kamboj being handed a debut in the Manchester Test.

“On the Australia tour, we played Devdutt Padikkal and Harshit Rana. Now, Harshit is missing and not among favourites anymore as we’re playing Anshul Kamboj in this Test,” Tiwary said.

Tiwary believes that Gambhir’s constant chopping and changing is disrupting the team’s core, stressing that players need to be backed over a longer duration to build confidence and consistency. He also questioned the continued omission of Kuldeep Yadav, calling it one of the most puzzling decisions, especially given Kuldeep’s proven ability to be a match-winner.

“There is no stability and he is not able to trust his players for a long duration. His thinking of playing part-time all-rounders and winning a Test match is not possible. The players who have played for a long time, including me, I’m a strong believer of specialist players,” Tiwary added.