There is no love lost between Manoj Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir. Ever since the former Indian opening batter became the head coach of the Men in Blue, Tiwary has repeatedly criticised Gambhir's coaching methods and his fascination with fielding more and more all-rounders in the lineup. The 2-0 series defeat to Ireland once again led Tiwary to trade barbs with Gambhir, blaming him for the loss.
While Tiwary didn't name Gambhir in his series-loss review, his words made it crystal clear that he was talking about no one other than the 2011 World Cup-winning hero. Tiwary also claimed that Gambhir's well-wishers will now try to deflect blame and make Shreyas Iyer, the newly appointed skipper, the ultimate reason for the shocking loss against Ireland.
The T20I series loss against Ireland marked a bad start as the T20I captain for Iyer. The right-handed batter himself had a below-par series, as he returned with scores of just 3 and 10.
Tiwary said that the inclination towards having more all-rounders is leading to the downfall, and this has emerged as the main reason behind India suffering defeats across formats.
{{/usCountry}}Tiwary said that the inclination towards having more all-rounders is leading to the downfall, and this has emerged as the main reason behind India suffering defeats across formats.
{{/usCountry}}"India might go on to win the World Cup in South Africa. But what about the T20I series lost against Ireland? Who is going to be accountable for it? I told you to address the elephant in the room, but no one believed my words. I know that PR agencies and friends of the so-called decision-maker will start pinpointing the blame on Shreyas Iyer," Manoj Tiwary said in a video posted on his X account.
"It's not only Shreyas Iyer's fault as a batter, but it is also the fault of the other batters who were not able to perform. The mechanism will corner and pinpoint Shreyas Iyer for this series loss. It is not the players, but the elephant sitting quietly in the dressing room, and most of the time going unaddressed. It is high time that we address this issue," he added.
‘Why no Sooryavanshi?’
Both the T20Is between India and Ireland saw the T20 World Cup champions failing to chase down totals. In the opening game, India failed to chase 183, while the second T20I saw them unable to overhaul the total of 155.
Tiwary also questioned the non-selection of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying the youngster should have been included in the playing XI after his recent exploits in IPL 2026.
"Why won't you play him in the playing XI from the first game itself? Rather, you chose the ones who did well in the World Cup that took place before the IPL. You thought that they would deliver the same performance in the Ireland series as well," said Tiwary.
For the second T20I, India handed debuts to Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge and Washington Sundar was left out of the playing XI. The opening game of the series saw Sundar bowling just one over and getting dismissed for a low score with the bat.
"Your so-called part-time obsession has not lived up to your expectations, so that is why you just made him play one game. So, you are not consistent in your decision-making. It is very sad to see India lose a series against Ireland," he concluded.