Manoj Tiwary, former India, and Bengal cricketer warned captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir of "cracks in the dressing room" after their selection calls in the first 2 Tests against New Zealand backfired.
India lost the first Test in Bengaluru after being embarrassingly dismissed for 46 in the first innings. They were expected to bounce back and prepared a turning track in Pune for the second Test. But Mitchell Santner’s 13 wickets managed to help New Zealand register a 113-run win as India went down 0-2 in the three-Test series with one match to go.
In the aftermath, according to Manoj Tiwary, the weather in Bengaluru was India's biggest nemesis, causing their plans to fail. He believed Chinnaswamy had rolled out a turner, but the weather prompted them to change their playing XI, which is when things began to fall apart for India.
“India's biggest enemy was the weather in Bengaluru because they had prepared a turning track. After winning the toss India had the opportunity to field, but I don't know why they opted to bat first, and that is where it all started. First, they got the team selection wrong, then after losing the first Test, they made three changes,” Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
Tiwary also anticipated that the management's selection decisions during the first two matches of the series would cause disruptions and even cracks in the Indian team.
Tiwary noted that while Washington Sundar delivered an impressive performance in Pune with an 11-wicket haul, including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav, whom he replaced, and another spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who was also on the squad, could have done the same.
He reckoned that the selection calls, along with the on-field decisions by Rohit backfired, resulting in New Zealand taking an unassailable 2-0 in the series.
“Well, you could call that Washington Sundar change an inspiring one, but that doesn't mean that Kuldeep Yadav could not get them wickets. So they felt the dearth of batting options, and hence, they wanted Sundar to contribute lower down the order. That is why India went out of their way to get him in. What this will lead to is in the coming days there will be a lot of disturbances in the team, there will be cracks in the team.
You already have a spin-bowling all-rounder in Axar Patel, who picked up wickets in spinning conditions previously. But you ignored him and then benched Kuldeep in the second Test. You did not play Akash Deep in Bengaluru but included him in the second Test, where you did not give him the ball in the second innings. Then you did not start with Jasprit Bumrah in the attack. All these things will backfired,” he added.
