Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary warned captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir of “cracks in the dressing room” after India incurred an embarrassing series defeat at home against New Zealand on Saturday, India's first at home since 2013, marking the end of an 18-series winning streak, which significantly dented their World Test Championship final qualification chances.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after the 113-run loss in Pune in the second Test against the Kiwis, Tiwary that India's biggest enemy which resulted in the downfall was the weather in Bengaluru, which disrupted their plans. He reckoned that Chinnaswamy had rolled out a turner, but rain forced them to alter their playing XI which where things started to fall apart for India.
“India's biggest enemy was the weather in Bengaluru, because they had prepared a turning track. After winning the toss India had the opportunity to field, but I don't know why they opted to bat first, and that is where it all started. First, they got the team selection wrong, then after losing the first Test, they made three changes,” he said.
‘All the decisions backfired’
The former Bengal captain then feared that the selection calls the management took during the first two matches of the series could lead to disturbances and even cracks in the Indian team. Tiwary explained that while Washington Sundar did produce an inspiring show in Pune with an 11-wicket haul, including a seven-fer in the opening innings, Kuldeep Yadav, whom he replaced, and fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the squad, could have produced the same.
{{/usCountry}}The former Bengal captain then feared that the selection calls the management took during the first two matches of the series could lead to disturbances and even cracks in the Indian team. Tiwary explained that while Washington Sundar did produce an inspiring show in Pune with an 11-wicket haul, including a seven-fer in the opening innings, Kuldeep Yadav, whom he replaced, and fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the squad, could have produced the same.
{{/usCountry}}Tiwary reckoned that the selection calls, along with the on-field decisions by Rohit backfired, resulting in New Zealand taking an unassailable 2-0 in in the series.
“Well, you could call that Washington Sundar change an inspiring one, but that doesn't mean that Kuldeep Yadav could not get them wickets. So they felt the dearth of batting options, and hence, they wanted Sundar to contribute lower down the order. That is why India went out of their way to get him in. What this will lead to is in the coming days there will be a lot of disturbances in the team, there will be cracks in the team. You already have a spin-bowling all-rounder in Axar Patel, who picked up wickets in spinning conditions previously. But you ignored him and then benched Kuldeep in the second Test. You did not play Akash Deep in Bengaluru, but included him in the second Test, where you did not give him the ball in the second innings. Then you did not start with Jasprit Bumrah in the attack. All these things will backfired,” he added.