Ex-Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has accused ex-team-mate and current Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir of driving senior players such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli out of the national team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently announced Shubman Gill as India's new ODI captain replacing Rohit Sharma despite his successful Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. The move has generated controversy among the fans and pundits, who are questioning Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar's decision to pass on the baton of leadership to the 26-year-old Gill. Tiwary has blamed Gambhir indirectly for pressurizing experienced players into premature retirement, citing Rohit and Virat Kohli. He also included Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, and indicated that the experienced spinner felt under-employed after being left out for the majority of matches. Here is what Tiwary said as quoted by Inside Sport: "If the senior players are there, if Ashwin is there, if Rohit is there or if Virat is there, then these guys have played so much cricket, these guys are established much more than the head coach or the other staff, these guys will raise questions if they don't agree to a point. You just made sure that these guys are not there, basically," Also Read | DDCA Under Fire After Non-Wicketkeeper Included in U19 Squad as a Keeper Tiwary also mentioned that Gambhir has been surrounded by numerous controversies since he was made head coach of India. He insinuated that the recent retirements of veteran players such as Ashwin, Rohit, and Kohli, who have retired from Test and T20I cricket, could have been due to Gambhir's style of functioning. "I have observed that since this coach took on the role, a lot of controversies have arisen. Many things that are happening are not good for Indian cricket. I believe that since the time he has been the head coach, Ashwin has taken a retirement. Rohit and Virat have also done so. Other things have happened, such as players being unexpectedly added to the squad and then being straight into the starting XI. We have seen that Gambhir has not been consistent," said Tiwary. Tiwary opined that it would be a bad idea for Gambhir to drop Rohit from the 2027 World Cup, much less after stripping him of the captaincy. Regardless, India's veteran batters will feature in the tour of Australia, which begins on October 19. The ODI series will feature new skipper Gill as captain with Rohit and Kohli playing under him, probably their last outing on Australian soil before retirement. "If these players feel that things are affecting their image and they are no longer wanted in the dressing room, then they might consider retiring. I believe they want to play. I think Gambhir won't take this call of not having these two individuals because, in the white-ball format, no one can deny the fact that these two have been outstanding. It would be a really poor decision if Gautam doesn't include these two in the scheme of things for the World Cup," Tiwary concluded.