Manjrekar blasts Gambhir, Keep him away from media

Launching an unexpected scathing attack on Gautam Gambhir, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on Monday said the India head coach lacks the "right demeanour and words" while interacting with the press and urged the BCCI to keep him away from the media duties. Manjrekar's comments came hours after Gambhir addressed media in pre-departure press conference ahead of the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.Manjrekar suggested that either captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar would be better suited to handle 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

Gambhir, known to be blunt, responded to questions on struggle of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in run up to the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Ricky Ponting's observations on Kohli's form, Indian's team's impending transition and the team combination for the Australia tour.Gambhir gave no clarity on captain Rohit Sharma's availability for Perth Test, but confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team if the skipper misses out.Gambhir also confirmed that KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the top candidates to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal if Rohit doesn't feature in the Perth Test.