‘Doesn’t have right demeanor or words’- Sanjay Manjrekar slams Gautam Gambhir after his press conference ahead of Australian tour

Former Indian cricket star Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed Gautam Gambhir post his press conference on Monday. India’s cricket coach was part of an intense press interaction just before the team left for Australia for the five-match series. India will play their first Test match in Perth starting on 22nd November. 

Sanjay Manjrekar took to Twitter and wrote “Just watched Gambhir in the press conference. May be wise for the BCCI to keep him away from such duties, let him work behind the scenes. He does not have the right demeanour nor the words when interacting with them. Rohit & Agarkar, much better guys to front up for the media,"

Just watched Gambhir in the press conference.
May be wise for @BCCI to keep him away from such duties, let him work behind the scenes. He does not have the right demeanour nor the words when interacting with them. Rohit & Agarkar, much better guys to front up for the media.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 11, 2024

Rohit Sharma hasn’t travelled with the team yet with the impending birth of his second child. In case, Rohit doesn’t play the first game then Jasprit Bumrah will be the captain of the side according to Gautam Gambhir. The former India batter turned coach also said that KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Eeswaran in place of Rohit Sharma, 

Sanjay Manjrekar advices Gautam Gambhir ahead of Australia tour

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar during his chat with ESPN CRICINFO said “Clearly, India is in panic mode. They are a bit shaken by what happened against New Zealand at home. And that's when plans start to go awry. And that is where I believe that one has to actually look at it in a different way, where you think there's nothing to lose here”

Manjrekar also added “So that is the time when you go back and do the right thing. And play players who deserve to get a chance. KL Rahul. You know, I don't know, there's some fascination that the team management, selectors have for him that they just want him part of the playing 11, whether it's at the top or down the order”

“Maybe Abhimanyu Easwaran hasn't convinced them as much. But it's not for us to play God and decide that maybe Abhimanyu Easwaran won't get run in the Test match. We've had many examples in the past where players have surprised you by their performances. Sometimes you yourself are surprised by your own sort of performance as to the height that you reach. So keep it simple and make the right choice." Quipped Sanjay Manjrekar 

India’s former batter turned commentator ended by saying “I would actually say KL Rahul should consider himself very lucky to be getting opportunities. With such comebacks and opportunities, very few players over the years in the history of Indian cricket have been given this kind of deal. So whether it's up the order, or down the order, doesn't matter as long as he's getting a chance to play in the Playing XI, despite the kind of record that he has. Now the average has dropped to 33 after 50 Test matches. I guess somewhere they hope that KL Rahul might find that form that he's capable of”