Shubman Gill, despite scoring a fluent 65 at the top of the order for Kolkata Knight Riders against Delhi Capitals on Friday, was demoted to No.7 in the match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, who had been rested for the match against Delhi Capitals, were both slotted back as openers on their return vs CSK. Manoj Tiwary, who has turned out for KKR, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiant in previous editions of the IPL, apart from having played 12 ODIs and 3 T20Is for India, tore into the KKR team management for their treatment of the 19-year-old Shubman Gill.
In a series of angry tweets, Tiwary has questioned how KKR can play Gill so low in the batting order, especially on the day before the scheduled announcement of India's World Cup squad.
"Is #ShubmanGill playing dis match ?? Oh now I understand tomorrow is d World Cup selection ?? Who says it's a team game ?? Sometimes it's quite obvious to d eyes," he said.
"Wen someone has played a classy innings of 65 runs in d previous game, than I as a cricket fan want that player to play higher up d order especially wen d team has lost a game. It's about providing d platform 4 our domestic players to bat higher order ahead of overseas players," he continued.
When some fans replied to Tiwary's tweet saying that Lynn and Narine have opened KKR's batting regularly over the last two seasons, Tiwary pointed to how KKR should have capitalized on Gill's current form.
Manoj Tiwary, despite turning out for "emergency trials" held by Delhi Capitals over the last week in Kolkata to replace their injured players, was not selected by the Delhi franchise.