BCCI should keep Gautam Gambhir away from media duties: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar is not a fan of Indian national team coach Gautam Gambhir's media interactions and didn't mince his words while talking about it on X

indian-cricket-coach-gautam-gambhir Indian cricket coach Gautam Gambhir during the pre-departure press conference | PTI

Launching an scathing attack on national team Gautam Gambhir, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on Monday said the former opener 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 unexpected comments came hours after Gambhir addressed media in pre-departure press conference ahead of the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He suggested that either captain Rohit Sharma or chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar would be better suited to handle the media.

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Delhiite Gambhir, known to be blunt, responded to questions on many issues including the struggle of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to find runs in run-upto the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Ricky Ponting's observations on Kohli, Team India's impending transition and the team combination for the Australia tour.

"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," Manjrekar wrote on X.

"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," he added.

Manjrekar though did not clarify in his tweet which part of Gambhir's press conference he found offensive.

PTI tried to reach out to Manjrekar to know more about his observation but neither he responded to calls nor he replied to text message.

The World Cup-winning former opener was asked several pointed questions in light of India's first Test series loss at home in 12 years, a result that has jeopardised the team's qualification for the WTC final.

Earlier, Sanjay Manjrekar had kicked up a row by calling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja a "bits and pieces" player. The Indian all-rounder responded by claiming that he had played more international games than Manjrekar. 

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