{"id":444511,"date":"2026-02-25T09:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444511\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:14:09","slug":"manjrekar-ridicules-gautam-gambhir-after-south-africa-thrashing-washington-sundar-is-the-solution-to-all-his-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444511\/","title":{"rendered":"Manjrekar ridicules Gautam Gambhir after South Africa thrashing: \u2018Washington Sundar is the solution to all his problems\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar<\/a> took a sharp swipe at head coach Gautam Gambhir <\/a>over what he termed baffling tactical calls in the Super 8 clash against South Africa, where the defending champions slumped to a 76-run defeat, their heaviest-ever loss in T20 World Cup<\/a> history. The result left India, who were tipped to become the first side to retain the title, on the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n

\"India'sIndia’s captain Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar interact with head coach Gautam Gambhir (PTI)<\/p>\n

Speaking to CricketNext, Manjrekar mocked Gambhir\u2019s apparent reliance on Washington Sundar, suggesting the all-rounder had become the solution to every problem, whether with the bat or ball. The remarks came amid criticism of Sundar\u2019s selection ahead of vice-captain Axar Patel against South Africa, a move the team management described as purely tactical.<\/p>\n

Manjrekar also questioned India promoting Sundar up the order, ahead of in-form Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: \u2018India needed this shake-up\u2019: Shastri blunt after South Africa mauling; tells Gambhir to make tough Axar-Sundar call<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cKailash Jeevan, there used to be a medicine by that name back in the day. If you had a headache, you\u2019d apply it. If you had a stomach ache, you\u2019d take it. It was an all-in-one remedy. Gautam Gambhir seems to have an all-in-one solution for everything too, Washington Sundar. If there\u2019s a batting issue, Washi is the answer. If there\u2019s a bowling problem, same answer. He was promoted up the order to No. 6 or 7 today, and Rinku\u2026 it was just too much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

India will play their second Super 8 match against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday.<\/p>\n

With Zimbabwe fielding five right-handers in their top seven, Axar Patel is likely to return. However, there remains a possibility that Sundar could retain his place, particularly if Rinku Singh, who reportedly left the camp due to a family emergency, is unavailable.<\/p>\n

India currently stand third in the Group 1 table in the Super 8 stage after the loss against South Africa. They still have two more games remaining, the other being the match against the West Indies on March 1 in Kolkata. India need to win both games by big margins to make a case for semifinal qualification alongside either the Windies or the Proteas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took a sharp swipe at head coach Gautam Gambhir over what he termed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,18855,102939,102938,14356,101,8051,56,54,55,18661],"class_list":{"0":"post-444511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-gautam-gambhir","10":"tag-ind-vs-sa","11":"tag-india-vs-south-africa","12":"tag-sanjay-manjrekar","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-t20-world-cup","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-washington-sundar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}