Gautam Gambhir responsible for removing Rohit Sharma from captaincy? Shocking claim emerges – ‘Ajit Agarkar was influenced by….’ – News24 Gautam Gambhir responsible for removing Rohit Sharma from captaincy? Shocking claim emerges

Former India batsman Manoj Tiwary has slammed Rohit Sharma’s axing as India’s ODI captain and hinted at head coach Gautam Gambhir being involved in the decision. The 37-year-old Tiwary and Gambhir have had issues in the past, and this is believed to be a tit-for-tat between the two. He felt the sudden replacement demonstrated disrespect to Rohit, considering his form and experience.

Having called time on T20Is in June 2024 and Tests in May last year, Rohit remained a key member of India’s ODI set-up and had hoped to peak ahead of the 2027 World Cup. But when India named their squad for the ODIs against Australia in October, Shubman Gill was named as captain in a surprise and somewhat contentious move that had cricket fans and pundits across the country talking. This was all the more remarkable given Rohit finished his reign on a high – the ICC Champions Trophy victory last month was his swansong as captain.

“I don’t know what the main cause is. But knowing Ajit Agarkar, he is a personality. He is a decision maker. He will not take a step back in taking such steps. But whether he was influenced by someone to fire the gun from his shoulder is something we need to look at. A lot of things happen behind the scenes, which makes 1+1 2. Maybe the decision was made by the chief selector, and he was very upfront about it. Naturally, the coach’s inputs must be there. You cannot make the decision on your own. Both are equally responsible for whatever decision was made,” Tiwary told Sports Today.

“See, there has been a lot of inconsistency in picking the playing XI, in my opinion. If I have to be brutally honest with you, I have lost interest in watching the ODI games. The things that have panned out of late, when the T20 World Cup-winning captain and the Champions Trophy-winning captain is removed from the captaincy, and the responsibility is given to the new guy, which I felt was not required. I have played with Rohit. We have a connection, so I didn’t like how it panned out. I felt it was disrespectful to a cricketer who has given so much to the cricket lovers across the world. From that day, I lost a bit of interest. A lot of controversies, and I feel that is happening because the clarity is not there,” added Tiwary.