Lifting Ranji Trophy would have been icing on cake, admits Manoj Tiwary
Manoj Tiwary shared that he would have loved to lift the prestigious Ranji Trophy in his 100th game in the tournament but revealed that he will, nevertheless, cherish the moment. Tiwary added that hard work is the only way forward for him after missing out on the 1000-run goal he set for himself.
Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary’s career is filled with hardships, let it being dropped from the national side after scoring an impressive ton or the failure of notching up an IPL contract despite boasting an impressive record. But the 31-year-old is nowhere close to giving up as he continues to toil in the domestic setup to work his way up the ladder yet again.
Tiwary recently played his 100th Ranji Trophy game, the final of this season between Bengal and Saurashtra, and played a valiant knock of 35 but unfortunately ended up on the wrong side of the game. Tiwary shared that he would always cherish the game but admitted that a Bengal win would have been the icing on the cake.
“My 100th experience will be memorable. I never thought that my 100th game will be a final. I am going to cherish this game but I think the icing on the cake would have been the Ranji Trophy but we cant’t start feeling down thinking about that then we will play the final again. I feel this team can become champions next year,” Tiwary told Sportstar.
When asked if he is eyeing a comeback in the blue of the national side, he answered in affirmative and added that comeback or not, hard work is the only way forward for him as he eyes to lift the Ranji Trophy and contribute as much as possible for his side. The 31-year-old admitted that given the Indian squad a comeback is more or less off the charts but a comeback to the IPL is something he is definitely eyeing.
“The dream to play for India is always there. And to get picked for the IPL, you have to have the hope and belief that you can make a comeback one day.”
“You also have to be realistic; looking at the Indian team now, it is a strong team and there is no slot to be honest but lot of miracles have happened over a period of time.
“I will keep working hard on my game and become a better player next season. I scored 700 runs but my target was 1,000. I missed out on a couple innings after scoring three fifties. Those crucial 40s and 50s were important for the team. I am there to improve on my skills, let me see how much I can contribute and score more runs for the team,” the Bengal batsman signed off.
