Rohit Sharma's removal from ODI captaincy was 'disrespectful': Former India cricketer attacks Gambhir, Agarkar

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has accused head coach Gautam Gambhir of influencing the BCCI selectors and getting Rohit Sharma removed from the ODI team’s captaincy. India won the 2025 Champions Trophy under Rohit’s captaincy after Gambhir was appointed head coach, but the 38-year-old was removed from the role later in 2025, with Shubman Gill taking over the duty.

As the 2027 ODI World Cup is still almost two years away, it kind of makes sense that the BCCI men’s selection committee, headed by former pacer Ajit Agarkar, decided to move on from Rohit and appoint a young captain in Gill. But given Rohit’s popularity, the decision has led to a massive controversy since last year.

Gambhir accused of removing Rohit from ODI captaincy

Now, Manoj Tiwary has claimed that it was not a decision that Agarkar made on his own and accused Gambhir of “firing the gun” from the selectors’ shoulders.

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“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.

Manoj Tiwary added that the “disrespectful” decision to remove Rohit from captaincy in ODIs has made him lose interest in India’s 50-over matches.

“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.

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