Saurabh Tiwari has certainly picked up a thing or two from MS Dhoni, says Rajiv Kumar
Mumbai Indians batsman Saurabh Tiwari has not played any games this year's IPL but his coach Rajiv Kumar still believes in his talent and feels that MI has special plans for him. Rajiv Kumar has traced the success of Saurabh’s comeback to MS Dhoni's presence during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Saurabh Tiwari, who has followed the footsteps of India’s Captain Cool MS Dhoni, has been regular in the domestic circuit and continues to play all three formats of cricket for Jharkhand. He has played with the likes of Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey in the ICC U-19 World Cup where he scored two key half centuries. In 2010, he made a name for himself by scoring 419 runs in 16 games for Mumbai Indians. Soon after that he earned an India cap and went on to represent the country in three ODIs.
It’s been close to eight years since then and Saurabh Tiwari now plays for his state team of Jharkhand. The southpaw batsman has scored 5,789 runs and has played 82 first-class games for the team. However, the left-hander did not feature enough in the IPL which bruised his chances of coming in the national side. The last time Saurabh appeared in an IPL match was in 2017 where he scored 51 against Kolkata Knight Riders, this being his only appearance in that entire season.
Saurabh’s Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar has seen him in perform up-close and the coach still has faith in his trainee. Rajiv Kumar says that Saurabh is a hardworking player, who if improves on certain aspects, can still make the cut. Even though he has been benched in this year’s IPL so far, Rajiv feels that MI certainly has plans for him as the team battled Kings XI Punjab at the auctions for him.
Talking to Cricketnext, Rajiv said, “Saurabh is a very talented batsman. When he started out with Mumbai Indians, he churned out some great performances for them. The only thing was that he was lacking a bit in his fitness. When I used to see him play, it gave an impression that he is at least going to play 50 Tests for India. That’s how I rate him. But somehow things didn’t work out. Still there’s a lot left in him, and we can expect better things from Saurabh. What I gather is that he is putting in a lot of effort in his training with MI, and hopefully he can do well for them in the time to come. I’m sure his franchise has certain plans for him in the mind, and that would help him.”
“Saurabh has been in great form. He had a good domestic season in all the formats and was hitting the ball well. I have a feeling that if given a chance, he will do really well. He has the ability to pull off something special. His numbers speak volumes. Apart from the batting ability, he has a mature head on his shoulders. He can handle the responsibility well, as he has been doing for Jharkhand for so long,” he added.
Saurabh Tiwary has been a big role model for his state team and he continues to empower them, to the delight of the coach. Apart from growing as a player, he has taken the responsibility of mentoring young players as well and the energy is truly felt whenever the youngsters are batting with him.
“Saurabh has got a reputation that every time he goes out to bat, he will score runs for his side. Being the senior-most, he knows his role well and all the youngsters too look up to him. When he is batting with them, he gives them that freedom to express themselves. He just holds the fort from one end. That holds the team, and the youngsters in good stead and they can be ready for bigger challenges ahead. Despite being a senior and mentoring the players, he is still a keen learner. And that is one of the key reasons why he is performing so well domestically,” Rajiv said.
According to Rajiv, MS Dhoni brings a different level of energy that is infectious to everyone around him and likewise, his presence during the Vijay Hazare Trophy boosted Saurabh Tiwari’s confidence so much so to ensure that he performed well once again for his team. The coach believes that Saurabh must have definitely picked up a few positives from Dhoni’s game which might work for him in the future.
“MS Dhoni’s presence changes everything. He brings a different level of energy that’s infectious.
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Win Cash Daily on NostraGamus! Just predict the right result for ANY Sports Match. Click here download the game on Android! To know more, visit Nostragamus.in