Manoj Tiwary, who declared his retirement from all forms of cricket, was honoured by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on Sunday, February 18. Playing 148 first-class matches, the 38-year-old led Bengal to the final last season, when they were defeated by Saurashtra. Though he had intended to resign after that, he chose to stay on as team captain for an additional year.
But Bengal’s story didn’t end happily; after placing third in Ranji Trophy Elite Group B, he was unable to advance to the Ranji Trophy 2024 knockout stages. Tiwary received a golden bat and ball memento from CAB president Snehasish Ganguly following his final match against Bihar. The former cricket player turned politician broke down in tears and said that his wife and mother had inspired him and that he misses his father.
“My father passed away in 2017, and I mourn him daily. My motivation has come from my mother and my wife. News18 cited Tiwary as stating, “They make me whole.”
Notably, Manoj Tiwary faced Australia in 2008 for his India debut.
He scored 287 and 15 runs in 12 ODIs and three T20Is while playing for the national squad. Tiwary, who is well-known in domestic cricket, has scored over 10,000 runs in first-class cricket, but he has never been able to establish himself in international cricket, particularly in red-ball cricket.
In addition, the batsman from Howrah remembered his early days of playing cricket and his interactions with the great Sourav Ganguly.
“When I first arrived at Eden Gardens, Dada (Sourav) was this young, fair left-hander. Tiwary remarked, “I felt like I had to play like this because he’s actually the Prince of Kolkata.
During the event, the experienced cricket player expressed his gratitude to the late Jagmohan Dalmiya, Avishek Dalmiya, Snehasish Ganguly, and other CAB administrators, in addition to his teammates. As West Bengal’s Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports, the veteran is expected to concentrate more on his political career.
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