'He made sure that these guys are not there...': Ex-India star accuses Gautam Gambhir of forcing Rohit, Virat and Ashwin to retire

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary feels that Gautam Gambhir is the one to blame for the sudden Test retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. He further pointed out how there have been a lot of controversies in Indian cricket ever since Gambhir took over. This statement comes after Rohit recently lost his ODI captaincy to Shubman Gill ahead of the three-match series against Australia. This was quite a shocking decision for many as Rohit had captained the team in their triumphant ICC Champions Trophy campaign earlier this year.

Notably, Ashwin was the one among the three to announce his retirement first and did so mid-way through the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 against Australia. On the other hand, both Rohit and Virat shockingly announced their Test retirements in May ahead of the five-match series against England.

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“If the senior players are there, if Ashwin is there, if Rohit is there or if Rohit is there, then these guys have played so much cricket, these guys are established much more than the head coach or the other staff, these guys will raise questions if they don't agree to a point. You just made sure that these guys are not there, basically,” Tiwary told InsideSport.

“I have observed that since this coach took on the role, a lot of controversies have arisen. Many things that are happening are not good for Indian cricket. I believe that since the time he has been the head coach, Ashwin has taken a retirement. Rohit and Virat have also done so. Other things have happened, such as players being unexpectedly added to the squad and then being straight into the starting XI. We have seen that Gambhir has not been consistent,” he added.

When will Rohit and Virat make ODI return?

Meanwhile, both Rohit and Virat are set to make their ODI returns in the upcoming series against Australia that is set to commence from October 19. This will be their first international assignment since the Champions Trophy earlier this year. It will be quite an important series for both of them as if they want to play the 2027 ODI World Cup, they will have to perform well with the bat in the handful of one-day matches that they will feature in until the mega-tournament.

What is India's squad for Australia ODIs?

India's squad for Australia ODIs: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.