Test cricket needs specialists, not part-time all-rounders: Manoj Tiwary questions Gautam Gambhir's approach

Kolkata, July 25 (IANS) Former India batter Manoj Tiwary has raised sharp questions about Gambhir’s strategy and over his selection policies and approach to red-ball cricket as India face England in the ongoing fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy at Old Trafford.

India’s narrow 22-run loss to England at Lord’s, saw the team fall behind 1-2 in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. India, led by Shubman Gill, fought hard but faltered on the final day for the second time in the series, despite Ravindra Jadeja’s valiant efforts.

With this loss, Gambhir’s record as India’s head coach across formats stands at 13 matches, with just four wins, eight defeats, and one draw. Since his appointment in July 2024, India’s Test ranking has slipped from No.1 to No.4, and they failed to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship 2025 final after a disappointing series loss in Australia.

Tiwary questioned Gambhir’s preference for all-rounders over specialist players, suggesting that such an approach is unsuited for the longest format.

“I have said it earlier also that Test match is a game of specialists but we're keeping them out and trusting all-rounders more,” Tiwary told IANS. “Since the arrival of head coach (Gautam Gambhir), there is a pattern of dropping underperforming players from the squad and adding players from the outside. This we've seen in India-Zealand series, when we brought Washington Sundar from outside over Ashwin, who was in the squad. On 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.”

The former India batter also emphasised the importance of backing players for longer durations instead of frequent chopping and changing.

“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 highlighted tactical missteps, particularly India’s decision to leave out wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. "I feel that Kuldeep Yadav should have played this match and the last match. Wrist-spinner always get success against England and their batters can't pick them. I think we failed to exploit that,” he said, while also pointing out that “our batters Sai Sudharsan, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal failing to score beyond 50-60s also made things difficult for us.”

Gambhir, one of India’s finest batters between 2008 and 2011, built a reputation for grit and determination, scoring over 10,000 international runs and playing crucial knocks in both the 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI World Cup finals. As a leader, he inspired Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles as captain and one as mentor, before stepping into the high-pressure role of India’s head coach.

--IANS

hs/