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Manoj Tiwary makes a statement ahead of IPL auction

Tiwari struck an unbeaten 75, hitting five fours and as many sixes to help his side chase down a target of 160 runs with eight wickets and 21 balls to spare

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East Zone’s Manoj Tiwary (R) is congratulated by North’s Shikhar Dhawan after their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 game on Thursday
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Manoj Tiwari stamped his authority ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions as he led East Zone to a comprehensive win over North Zone in Syed Mushtaq Ali Inter Zonal tournament at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.

Tiwari struck an unbeaten 75, hitting five fours and as many sixes to help his side chase down a target of 160 runs with eight wickets and 21 balls to spare. And with the IPL auctions scheduled on February 20, the Bengal batsman might just have hit the right chord.

And he couldn't agree more. "Whether it (IPL selection) happens or not, only God knows. Yes, the timing is important. All the franchise owners were watching this innings while sitting in VIP box or on television," he said after the match on Thursday.

The 31-year-old, who had a base price of Rs 1 crore, went unsold in the auctions last year. However, it wasn't just because of his performances.

"Last year I was injured and couldn't play the IPL and no franchisee wanted to take chance with me. Injuries have always followed me," he said.

"It was disappointing (to miss IPL last year). When I was watching IPL from home, I knew that I could play, seeing players with very little experience playing.

"I cannot do anything about it. It is up to concerned franchise owners and their talent scouts. I know that I will play in it (IPL). You should not write off players if they fail in one or two innings."

But now that he is back in shape, Tiwary is hoping that his efforts will bear fruits. "I have always believed in hard work and over a period of time hard work pays off. I am constantly working hard on my game."

Speaking of his performance on the day, Tiwary was impressed with how he went about his game plan.

"I wanted to play a good innings, because I was not getting chances to bat long and the situation was that there were more balls than runs and I wanted to play captain's knock to take the team through," he said.

"Today I got the platform and situation demanded that I lead from the front. I played with positive intent and also went inside first six overs, so I knew that if I hit the shots in the gap the boundaries will come and that's what happened."

Earlier in the day, South Zone clinched their first win of the tournament following their five-wicket win over West Zone here.

Brief Scores

West Zone 140/9 in 20 overs (D Hooda 32; C Milind 3/41, V Shankar 2/21) lost to South Zone 141/5 in 17.4 overs (M Agarwal 70; I Pathan 1/22) by 5 wickets
North Zone 159/9 in 20 overs (Y Singh 38; P Ojha 3/33, A Verma 2/18) lost to East Zone 162/2 in 16.3 overs (M Tiwary 75*, V Singh 74*; P Sangwan 1/26) by 8 wickets

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