There are many things you can do at the age of 34, but at that age not many cricketers would dare to think of making a comeback into the Indian team. But Manoj Tiwary is not afraid of dreaming.
Bengal stalwart Manoj has scored the highest runs among the batsmen of the seven Elite teams who have qualified for this season’s Ranji Trophy quarter finals.
“I believe in myself. I have been scoring runs consistently and though I do not think about the starts much, I have scored 641 runs going into the knockout stage. My target is to score 1000 runs this season. If I can achieve that target, I may get an India call-up again,” Manoj, whose last appearance in national colours was in July, 2015, told The Telegraph on Saturday.
“Age is just a number. If I can keep myself fit, I believe I still have miles to go,” the right-handed batsman added.
But he is not just thinking about his own goals.
'In our last two matches, we were on the backfoot initially but showed great character to stage a superb fightback. We were playing well earlier as well, but these fighting wins have given us confidence and we are looking forward to carry forward this momentum.
“What I couldn’t achieve as a captain, I would like to achieve that as a player. I want to win the Ranji Trophy with Bengal. We are playing well. The team is growing in confidence. In last two matches — against Rajasthan and Punjab respectively — we have registered outright victories. If everything goes accordingly, a good result is possible,” Manoj said.
“Our dressing room atmosphere is excellent. That is one of the main reasons behind our good performance so far. As a senior player, I get the respect that I deserve. Not only me, all the other seniors also get respect. And at the same time, we try our level best to co-operate and share our experiences with the juniors.
“I have seen it all… I have seen us lose in Ranji Trophy quarter final, semi-final and final. So we have to be cautious and need to stay focused. We have three more hurdles to overcome,” he said.
Asked if is he playing more freely now that he is not the captain of the team, Manoj said: “I don’t want to think that way. Yes, as a captain I always had some extra responsibilities, but those never put any extra pressure on me.
“Though I am not the captain of the team, I share my experience with Abhimanyu Easwaran and that is well accepted. As a senior member of the team, I have some responsibilities and I would perform those,” he said.
Lauding Abhimanyu, Manoj said that the young captain must be given more time to settle down in his new role. “The more he leads the side, the better will he be as a captain. It is everybody’s responsibility to help him in his job.”
Manoj praised the Bengal bowlers for the success of the team so far.
“We have a very good bowling unit. Ishan Porel did well in the first few matches matches. He will hopefully play the quarter final match against Odisha.
“Akash Deep has been incredible. His inclusion in the squad has helped us a lot. Mukesh Kumar is much mature now. Our spinners, Arnab Nandi and Shahbaz Ahmed, are also putting opponents under pressure in almost every match. Hope they will continue like this. To win any match, we need to take 20 wickets. And they are doing that,” he said.
When asked about last-eight showdown versus Odisha, Manoj said: “We respect every opponent. They are a good side, but we don’t want to think about the opponent much. We just want to give our best for Bengal.”
How does he keep the pressure away? “I have stress reliever at home — my son Yuvaan. He is just one-and-a-half years. When I am home, I play with him and don’t think much about other things at that time, not even cricket. That helps me play with a clear mind. My wife Susmita always supports me. I am now a complete family man.”
