Still hopeful of a comeback into Indian team, reveals Manoj Tiwary
34-year-old Manoj Tiwary has revealed in an interview that he remains hopeful of making a comeback into the Indian national team setup and the IPL as well. For the time being, however, Tiwary is focused on delivering the goods in Bengal’s Ranji Trophy campaign - 1000 runs being his target.
He has been hampered by injuries at crucial points in his career, ignored for selection several times, and was altogether snubbed in last year’s IPL auction despite having a decent campaign the previous year. But Tiwary is not willing to give up just yet and is hopeful that a good domestic season can rejuvenate his international career in the process.
“Age is obviously just a number. Priorities, as far as professional life is concerned - I want my performances to be better than they were previous season. And also keep performing to the best of my ability and make sure that my consistency rate is there all the time. And I believe deep down that one season of Ranji Trophy can again bring that luck back to me, as far as being picked for India is concerned,” Tiwary told ESPNCricinfo.
“And also to get an opportunity in the IPL as well. Last year I could not make a team, so obviously IPL is a very big platform. I'm hoping that somebody gives me an opportunity in their side,” he said.
Though he has been a regular feature in the domestic setup for 16 years, Tiwary revealed that much hasn’t changed in how he prepares for a season now as opposed to 10 years ago.
“Very similar kind of preparation to be honest. The older you grow the more effort you have to put because earlier, your body was pretty natural, but the load of so many years now takes a toll on the body. I bowl as well, and I give more than 100 percent but I'm also someone who dives a lot on the field. So that's why I've always kept my physical fitness the first priority,” he said.
The one difference this season, however, is the fact that Tiwary will no longer captain the Bengal side, as the hat has been passed onto young Abhimanyu Easwaran. And having long served as a captain, Tiwary wants to give as much room to Easwaran to help him express himself.
“I've always wanted to be a team man, my only aim is to make sure the team wins the trophy. During my captaincy term, I have won a few trophies. Now I want to help Easwaran. He's our captain now. I want to assist him whenever it's required, but I also want to give him that space so that he becomes a good captain by himself. Because captaincy I believe is all about your gut feeling,” he said.
“So my role as a senior is to just help the youngsters. I want to go up to them and tell them what needs to be done and how you can do it, rather than I keep sitting and watching them, keep replaying their mistakes. What I had gone through - I don't want them to [go through and] lose out on time,” Tiwary added.
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