Gautam Gambhir is being called out by Manoj Tiwary for being inconsistent. This all started because the Indian team didn’t shake hands with the Pakistani team after a recent Asia Cup 2025 match.
India’s win over Pakistan was overshadowed by the team’s decision to skip the handshakes. From the coin toss to the end of the game, the Indian players led by captain Suryakumar Yadav didn’t shake hands with the Pakistani players. Suryakumar didn’t even shake hands with Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha during the toss. After hitting the winning runs, Suryakumar and his partner Shivam Dube went straight to the locker room without acknowledging the other team. The Pakistani players tried to approach the Indian side for the handshakes after the match but were turned away again. So Salman didn’t attend the post-match awards ceremony.
This handshake situation has created a huge buzz in the cricket world. Manoj Tiwary who has had a history of differences with Gautam Gambhir shared his views on this. Tiwary said that not shaking hands with the Pakistani players wasn’t the right move.
Tiwary told Inside Sport that Gambhir had previously said that India shouldn’t play against Pakistan until certain issues are resolved. He thought it was inconsistent to play the game and then not shake hands. He said Surya did shake hands with Salman Agha at one point so he questioned the message they were trying to send.
Tiwary also felt that the decision might have been influenced by social media criticism. There were calls to boycott the match against Pakistan because of a terror attack and the following conflict.
Tiwary thinks Gambhir as the head coach might have felt pressure because of his previous statements against playing Pakistan. He thinks Gambhir might have been trying to show support to the families affected by the terror attack.
In the meantime India beat Pakistan by 7 wickets and are through to the Super 4s. Their next match is against Oman in their last group game.
