Getting an Indian cricket team cap is the ultimate dream for any cricket player from the country. But if getting an India call-up is tough, maintaining the place in the India team is ever harder. Many cricketers have shown promise, yet their international career fizzled out after some time. Manoj Tiwary, who served Bengal for about two decades and represented India in 12 ODIs and three T20Is, is part of that list. The player retired a day after Bengal's final match in the Ranji Trophy this season on Sunday.
Manoj Tiwary made his ODI debut against Australia in 2008. He scored his first ODI ton against West Indies in Chennai On December 11, 2011. He was adjudged the Man of the Match for his performance. However, he was not part of the playing XI again until July 2012 against Sri Lanka.
A day after his retirement, he said his biggest regret would be not getting the Test cap after having represented India in the ODIs and T20Is.
"When I had completed playing 65 first-class matches, my batting average was around 65. The Australia team had toured India then, and I had scored 130 in Chennai in a friendly game, then I scored 93 against England in a friendly game. I was very close, but they picked Yuvraj Singh instead. So Test cap and the fact that I was ignored after getting the Man of the Match award for scoring a hundred...I was ignored for 14 straight matches. When self-confidence is at its peak and someone destroys that, then that player is finished," Manoj Tiwary told News18. "Confidence is everything for a player, in any profession."
Who killed that confidence? Tiwary was asked upfront. "I know the name but I don't want to take it. I am a grown man now. When a player is omitted, it's the decision of the team management," he replied.
"The captain of that team was MS Dhoni. I am asking you upfront," the reporter then asked Manoj Tiwary.
"Yes, MS Dhoni was the captain. If I get the opportunity to ask the question, I will ask him why I was dropped from the team after scoring the century, especially in that tour of Australia where nobody was scoring runs, neither Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina. I have nothing to lose now," he said.
MS Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary have been teammates in the IPL too.
With PTI inputs