This article has been read by Manoj Tiwary himself, liked and appreciated. He sent me a message through his Twitter handle:
It was on the 8th of May, the previous year (2007) when while enthusiastically taking part in a fielding drill, Tiwary injured his shoulder and had to be sent home. It was the eve of what was going to be the first time he’d be donning the India colours. The Bangladesh series marketed as the ‘Payback Series’ was right after the World Cup, where India had been badly humiliated by the Bangla tigers. And it was a series where the big stars like Ganguly and Tendulkar were conspicuous by their absence. Just a month back, there had been a lot of hue and cry about the future of Indian cricket and the Board had collectively decided to blood in more youngsters. So a younger team was formed under the leadership of Rahul Dravid and amongst the present crop of frontline players, the only notable inclusion was that of Gautam Gambhir (for whom it was a comeback series). So Manoj Tiwary was the only player to be a part of that series who in some way, even after 3 years and 8 months, is still under the radar of selectors. Mind you, Raina was grueling it out in domestic cricket, there was no Sharma and definitely there was no Kohli. This more or less tells where Tiwary stood till just a few years back and where he did before scoring that magnificent hundred at Chepauk.
Manoj Tiwary was the flagbearer of the new crop of players who would be taking Indian cricket forward. When the World Cup debacle happened, a lot of expectations were laid on a person who was going to take up the mantle of Sourav Ganguly in Bengal Cricket and his statistics (at a point his average was 99.50 in First-Class Cricket) made matters even better. So that injury at Dhaka became the starting point of a stop-start career that was marred more with unfortunate incidents than display of moments of true brilliance for which Tiwary was born for. Manoj or fondly called ‘Mani’ by people close to him, did not lose heart. He came back and started piling runs again in the Domestic circuit, modest by his standards – he scored 456 runs at an average of 45.60 and two centuries in Bengal’s 2007/08 Ranji campaign. He came out in difficult situations and bailed his team out, making sure that his knocks on the doors of Team India could be well heard.
Then came India’s tour Down Under where Yuvraj Singh after an average Test series got injured prior to the one-day series. A series that became famous for his never ending run of bad form, both in batting and in relationships. Nevertheless, as a last moment replacement, Manoj was flown in from India and after covering a journey from one hemisphere to another, he was finally there – drafted in to tackle the likes of Johnson and Lee on a day when they were at their lethal best.
He played and missed, he hit one firmly to point but it was brilliantly saved. Then came a Lee bouncer which he ducked and after running a quick double, he smelt leather for a second time. Then just when he was about to regain composure, a toe crushing Yorker came, crashing into his stumps and ending his brief twelve ball stay at the crease. He ended with figures of just two runs in his debut outing. Co-incidentally it was the very same ground where Bengal’s prodigal son, Sourav Ganguly had a nightmarish outing against the West Indies in his ODI debut, where he managed a meager score of three from thirteen balls.
Manoj Tiwary did not get another game in the entire series. It was a series which saw the emergence of Rohit Sharma and the re-entrance of Suresh Raina (who didn’t get a game too) into the Indian dressing room. Tiwary was back into oblivion. The Indian Premier League followed, where he was picked up by the GMR owned Delhi Daredevils as more of a flamboyant extra than a regular player. He hardly got a chance to play in an eleven dominated by the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Dilshan and De’villiers. As Suresh Raina made merry on flat Chennai pitches and Rohit Sharma was the saving grace of the Chargers’ disastrous campaign, the prodigy of Manoj Tiwary was hardly getting more than 6-7 balls to play in a match. The 2009 season was again a season when Tiwary was shrouded in self-doubts about whether he could perform at the highest level or not. An injury during IPL-2 in South Africa, also ensured that he was off the Domestic circuit for quite a while, thus marking his absence from the Selectors’ notebooks, for good. Shashi Tharoor, ex-Member of the Parliament, in one of his columns mentioned how Tiwary was one of those cases of talent lost in wilderness. A bright chapter in Bengal Cricket’s history seemed to have got over a little too early.
Then came the big season, the season of 2010…
In a swap-deal, Tiwary was drafted into the Ganguly led, Bengal centric – Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by the ever popular Shah Rukh Khan. The tides seemed to be turning in his favour as he got a permanent place in the playing XI. In his first match at home, against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, Tiwary blasted his way to a fifty odd, in the process mauling the likes of Kallis and Kumble on a difficult Kolkata pitch. The celebration after his fifty was expressive, it was of a person who had been subdued for a long long time, the shackles started to break. Another brilliant knock followed as Punjab was made to pay at Mohali, to cap his performance with the bat, he took a blinder to dismiss Yuvraj. The rub of the green was finally going Mani’s way. As a reward for his performances, he was gifted an India A cap and sent for the tour to England against the England Lions and the West Indies A team. Some motivated performances and a gritty hundred ensured that Tiwary was back in the reckoning. In the Ranji Trophy that followed, he scored 525 runs in the 7 innings he played with a double century and three half centuries to his name. The season ended on a high for him.
After India’s victory at the World Cup and the IPL, the team to West Indies had to be announced. Tiwary was one of the dark horses for a place in the squad however he couldn’t make it to the initial list. But a last moment withdrawal from Yuvraj (Yes, Yuvraj!) ensured that Tiwary was aboard the flight to West Indies on what was going to be his second outing in India colours. With big names rested, he was more than certain to be given a chance to play atleast one game. After India wrapped up the series, he was made to open, something he openly says he isn’t comfortable with. In the 4th ODI of the series, he scored 2 runs which equaled his career average. And just when he started to look comfortable in the 5th ODI, he lost his wicket for 22 runs. He continued to be noticed through performances in the Emerging Players Tournament and he got a call up again to be the last moment replacement for an injured Rohit Sharma in India’s tour to England. He came in to bat at Southampton when the top order had already scored enough runs, he had to hit or get out, which he managed to do comfortably well, scoring 9 runs quickly with a couple of strong hits. Ravindra Jadeja played a sparkling innings in his very next match and it sidelined Tiwary for the rest of the series.
His determination to play for the country and come to its’ rescue whenever injury-ridden, went down well with the management and he got to play for India against England in the home series. He sat out during most parts of the series with a mediocre Parthiv Patel getting repeated opportunities and the team management favouring Ajinkya Rahane over Tiwary. An outing at his home ground didn’t help matters much, as a score of 24 didn’t make his place in the side certain for the next series.
And finally when the West Indies series arrived and Tiwary was overlooked for a place in the XI yet again, he didn’t lose the faith in himself. He came out in the 5
th ODI, the one-off chance he got like he had been getting for a long time now and with nerves of steel he crafted a well made, painful 104. And the rest will surely be history.
Manoj Tiwary has played 5 series for India across 4 continents but has got play in only 5 games before the West Indies match. Perhaps something that could have made even the best doubt their own abilities. Not complaining much about board politics and selection blasphemies, it was heartening to see the 26 year old bat out the Chennai heat. He knew that it was going to be the last chance he’d get for a long time now. With a crowded Indian middle order, if he didn’t make use of his second coming then only God could have helped him. But what makes Manoj Tiwary a champion is his self belief. It is not easy to go down to bat as last moment replacements, it is not easy to concentrate on your game when you constantly have to look over others’ shoulders, but he did. After some mistakes here and there, he championed the ghosts of self doubt to emerge victorious on the 11th day of December, 2011. Now here is a man who was certain of playing Tests for India, running into the field with drinks, doing substitute fielding and being given opportunities that never do justice to his talent. Some may say that he lacks the finishing abilities, others complain that he hasn’t made most of his chances but the fact remains that he was one of those youngsters who shot into the limelight pre-IPL and even after all the glamour and fame it has to offer, he has not lost himself. Manoj Kumar Tiwary, through his century at Chepauk sent a message to the big-wigs of India cricket that talent can only lost direction, it can never be lost.
For the aspiring Indian cricketer reading this post, it is important to realize that talent can go awry at times but true character is when you can get it together and deliver to your potential. And as a fan, I pray that Chota Dada gets a longer run in the Indian team and when history books are re-written, Manoj Tiwary is listed alongside the likes of Pankaj Roy and Sourav Ganguly – who stand for dominance of Cricket in Bengal.
Food for thought: Sourav Ganguly remained a passenger for most of his debut tour, getting a last moment game against West Indies, after which he was sent into wilderness for 4 years. Wriddhiman Saha, despite being a superior wicket-keeper as well as batsman than Parthiv Patel keeps warming the benches in Test matches. Now, Manoj too? Your comments?
Written by:
Ritwik Mallik
Bestselling author of 'Love Happens Like That' and 'Because You Loved Me..'
