It’s Kevin Pietersen who is grabbing the headlines at the moment. And despite being in the form of his life, his chances of a national comeback looks blaeak. Seems the same fate is falling upon a die-hard fan of his. Around a decade back, thousands of miles away from London, in the maidans of Kolkata, a Pietersen fan was hell-bent to replicate his idol’s feat.
Those who watched Manoj Tiwary bat in the 2006-07 Ranji season, remember him replicating several of Pietersen’s shots. Many in India felt the nation had unearthed a new batting sensation and didn’t hesitate calling him the Indian version of “KP”. Tiwary played fearlessly and was often seen slamming the best of fast bowlers out of the park. It was a season in which he amassed 796 runs at a Bradmanesque average of 99.50. A plethora of injuries and surgeries later, Tiwary’s carefree aspect has taken a backseat, but the effectiveness is still in tact.
The cricketing cognoscenti hailed Tiwary as the next star. Eight years since, his career cuts a sorry picture. Over the years, he has led several A sides and played some of the most stunning First-Class knocks, and featured in the national side’s plans, although mostly on the benches. Why else would he play just nine One-Day Internationals (ODIs) ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in the last eight years? In fact, he also has the rare misfortune of being benched after scoring a match-winning ODI hundred.
Over the years, injuries have played a role in keeping him out. From hurting his shoulder on the eve of what would have been his ODI debut in Bangladesh in 2007, to missing out the 2013-14 Ranji season after undergoing two surgeries, Tiwary can rue his fate, but he has come out strong every time and scored runs only to see ‘talents’ and ‘reputations’ getting preferences more than his grit.
Tiwary’s misfortunes extends to IPL
A prolific performer at the domestic level, Tiwary’s misfortunes now seems to follow him in the Indian Premier League (IPL). More suited for the longer format for his resilient nature and ability to craft long innings, Tiwary’s effectiveness in this format can’t be questioned. In 2012, he hit the winning runs when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were crowned the IPL champions for the first time. In fact, his two boundaries in the last over off a wily Dwayne Bravo won it for KKR. Surprisingly, the local Kolkata hero wasn’t retained by the franchise in 2014 and was picked up by Delhi Daredevils (DD) for Rs 2.8 crores.
Shoaib Akhtar recently made an interesting point when he said that IPL as a platform should help Indian players being groomed for the bigger stages and felt Tiwary, who has led Bengal, East Zone, Rest of India and India A sides in the past, should be announced as the side’s captain. Leave alone captaincy, he has found it tough to get a regular place in the side. Thanks to some baffling tactics, in the first three games that he was picked, Tiwary didn’t get to bat. Promoted in a game against KKR, Tiwary looked in a nice touch during his brief stay at the wicket. He top scored with 32 from 28, only to find him being dropped from the next game. In fact he spent the next five matches on the bench, before being picked against KKR once again — this time as an opener. He got 25 from 28 against a strong KKR spin-attack and struck some good blows, only to be dropped from the next game. With two matches remaining for DD this season, there is a question mark if he will play again.
Tiwary began the season well with a good run in the One-Day tournaments, where he was trying his best to impress the selectors for a World Cup berth. Later, he had a poor run in the Ranji Trophy and now seems to be falling out of favour with the younger likes of Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal stepping in.
Tiwary is known for his straightforward talking. While leading the Rest of India side in the Irani Trophy this year, Tiwary made it clear that he is determined to look forward but at the same time layered his doubts with the term ‘destiny’. He had said, “I always believe in destiny. If I am destined to play for India again in the future then I will, but the only thing I can do is work hard and perform, and that’s what I have been doing.”
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