indian cricket team

Former India Cricketer Shows India Coach His Place After Comments on Rohit Sharma During IND vs NZ Series

Chandra Moulee Das

Last updated: January 17, 2026

3 min read

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary blasted the national team assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate for his recent comments on Rohit Sharma and his form during the ongoing IND vs NZ ODI series. After the second match of the series on January 14, Doeschate had cited a lack of gametime and Rohit’s batting approach for not being able to convert his starts.

For context, Rohit Sharma entered 2026 as the No.1 ranked ODI batter after slamming a century during the Australia ODI series in October and followed it up with two fifties in the three-match series at home against the Proteas. However, against the Kiwis, Rohit has yet to go big after managing scores of 26 and 24.

Now, Manoj Tiwary has spoken up in defence of the former India skipper by showing Ryan ten Doeschate his place for his comments and suggested that such comments can affect and undermine the confidence of a player.

Tiwary was quoted as saying by PTI, “With a lot of respect, I would like to tell Ryan Ten Doeschate that he was with me for four years at KKR. No doubt he is a very good person, but the kind of comment he has made, I think, he should have thought about it. He has also played international cricket for the Netherlands. If you look at his performance in international cricket, I am saying this with all due respect, it is not even 5% of what Rohit has achieved in his career, not just as a batter but also as a captain.”

He added, “He has given the nation so much happiness by winning the Champions Trophy also and after that, talking like this, that too when he is in the team, not like he is sitting at home and commenting, he is a part of the management, and telling like this about your player is demoralising. I don’t know why he said that. He has to reflect on this. I feel he must not make such comments.”

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Will Rohit Sharma play in the 2027 ODI World Cup?

Although there are speculations about the future, Rohit Sharma for now continues to be in India’s ODI plans. He is extremely lethal at the top, and his recent form has also been good barring the IND vs NZ series so far.

Rohit smacked his 33rd ODI against Australia, followed by the twin fifties against South Africa and then later represented Mumbai in two rounds of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT 2025-26), slamming a century in one.

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