Former Bengal and India batter Manoj Tiwary on Monday revealed the reason of leaving IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders post 2013. The batter, who hung up his boots after leading Bengal in Ranji Trophy 2024, in a press conference on Monday said he had to leave to KKR following a spat with then captain Gautam Gambhir.
Notably, Gambhir is the only captain in the history of KKR to lead the franchise to an IPL trophy. He led the franchise to glory twice, in 2012 as well as 2014. In 2012, Manoj played a vital role in KKR’s trophy win, hitting the winning runs via a boundary against Chennai Super Kings.
However, Manoj Tiwary moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2014. At that time, there were reports of a spat between Manoj Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir, but it couldn’t be confirmed.
A decade later, Manoj opened up on the issue following his retirement. “I had a big fight with Gambhir during my time at KKR. We broke into a huge spat in the dressing room but that never came to light. KKR became the champion in 2012 and I managed to hit the winning runs at a crunch time. I got a chance to play for the team for one more year,” Manoj Tiwary said at a media interaction programme in Kolkata.
“If I didn’t have a fight with Gambhir in 2013, maybe I would have played for the franchise for another two-three years. That means the amount I was supposed to get as per the contract would go up and my bank balance would be increased many fold. But I never thought about that,” he added.
