Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwari clarified why he called India coach Gautam Gambhir a 'hypocrite'. Gambhir's stint as India's coach hasn't been smooth, with the team suffering defeats to New Zealand and Australia. Tiwari lashed out at Gambhir after the team's shambolic show in Australia and said that the India coach doesn't do whatever he says.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Tiwari clarified his remarks and revealed why he called Gambhir a hypocrite. Tiwari slammed Gambhir for pushing for the likes of Ryan Tendoeschate and Morne Morkel in the coaching set-up, citing his old interview where the former cricketer advocated for not hiring foreign coaches.

"Why did I call him a hypocrite? It is because of one of his interviews if you remember. In one of the interviews, he said, ‘All these foreign coaches, all the guys who come from abroad, have no emotions, they have no feelings. They earn money and enjoy themselves.’ When the time was there for him to select all the Indian coaches and all the Indian-origin support staff, why did he put forward the names of Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel? He got everything he wanted but he is not able to produce the results. Actions don't match his words, so I called him a hypocrite," said Tiwary.

After Tiwari's remark, KKR stars Harshit Rana and Nitish Rana came out in support of the former KKR coach, however, Tiwari sees it as nothing more than a PR stunt. He said both Harshit and Nitish played under Gambhir so they were always going to take his side. The Bengal cricketer also questioned Harshit Rana playing the Perth Test against Australia ahead of Akash Deep.

"Why wouldn't Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn't have that much first-class experience. Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him," said Tiwary.

"I have said nothing wrong. This is PR which I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don't know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident," he added.

Tiwari also opened up on his altercation with Gambhir during the Ranji match in 2015 and said that Gambhir abused his family.

"When he fought with me during the Ranji Trophy match in Delhi, everyone heard every word from Gautam Gambhir's mouth. Whether he was talking bad about Sourav Ganguly or whether he was abusing my family, he was protected by a few of the individuals. This is the PR I am talking about. The process of picking players and selecting them in the playing XI is not happening properly. Akash Deep was dropped in favour of Harshit Rana. If you thought Harshit was so good, why didn't you continue with him for the rest of the series? Akash Deep doesn't have a voice," said Tiwary.

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