Former Indian cricketer makes a big claim that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did not walk away from Test cricket by choice but were compelled to retire due to an unhealthy team atmosphere.
Both senior players announced their retirement from the Test format earlier this year, just ahead of the England series.
As per a report of India Today, Tiwary, speaking on the situation, stated that despite Kohli and Sharma’s desire to continue contributing to Test cricket, the environment around the team pushed them toward retirement. His remarks come in response to head coach Gautam Gambhir’s comments that India’s defeat in the first Test against South Africa was a byproduct of a “transition phase.”
Sharing his perspective, Tiwary dismissed the idea of a transition altogether, arguing that India’s deep talent pool makes the term irrelevant. He further alleged that the push for an unnecessary transition phase resulted in pushing out stalwarts like Kohli and Rohit, despite their intent to uphold the importance of Test cricket.
‘Transition phase’
Tiwary told India Today, “This whole 'transition phase' talk—I don’t agree with it. India doesn’t need a transition. New Zealand or Zimbabwe need a transition. Our domestic cricket is full of talented performers waiting for chances. Because of this unnecessary transition, our star players—like Virat and Rohit—who wanted to keep playing Test cricket and protect its sanctity, slowly stepped back because of the atmosphere created around them”
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Elaborating further, he criticised Gambhir’s approach after the defeat, questioning why players’ techniques were being analysed post-loss rather than being strengthened beforehand.
He also added, “You cannot blame players' technique after losing. As a coach, your job is to teach, not to blame. If the batters didn’t have solid defence, why weren’t they trained before the match? When he played, Gambhir himself was a good player of spin, so he should teach more. The results aren’t in India’s favour.”
With India trailing 0–1 in the two-match series after a disappointing outing in Kolkata, the pressure is now immense heading into the second Test in Guwahati. The team must win to avoid a second consecutive home series defeat. After the rank turner backfired in the opener, all eyes are on the kind of surface India chooses for the decider.
