Veteran Bengal batter Manoj Tiwary on Saturday (February 10) came up with a bizarre suggestion as he called for the Ranji Trophy to be scrapped from the Indian domestic cricket calendar.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Tiwary vented out his frustration but didn’t exactly mention the reason behind his radical suggestion.
Hours after his scathing post, Tiwary - the current Sports Minister of West Bengal - went live on his Facebook page where he hinted at some of the issues that were troubling him.
The 38-year-old also announced that he is set to retire from the Ranji Trophy and First-class cricket after the match against Bihar at the Eden Gardens.
“My journey in the Ranji Trophy and first-class cricket comes to an end after the match against Bihar at the Eden Gardens,” Tiwary said.
Moreover, the Bengal skipper explained why he had reversed his retirement decision in August 2023. Tiwary revealed that his wife and the Cricket Association of Bengal had persuaded him to call time on his career on a good note by playing his final game at Eden Gardens where his first-class cricketing journey began.
Talking about his critical assessment of the Ranji Trophy, Manoj Tiwary opened up on the poor facilities provided in their ongoing match against Kerala, which is being held at St Xavier’s College Ground in Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram.
“We are playing Kerala in a ground, not a stadium despite there being one built years ago, we are being asked to play in a ground on the outskirts of the State,” Tiwary stated.
“The dressing rooms are such that you cannot even strategise properly since our dressing room and the opposite dressing room are so close to each other that you can hear what the others are saying. There is no privacy. I hope that this is looked into in the future,” he added.
Tiwary refrained from sharing more reasons due to his role as a player and captain in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
He said, “I cannot elaborate further as I am a player and the captain of a State and I have to follow the BCCI’s Code of Conduct. I cannot say anything publicly during the match.”
Manoj Tiwary concluded by saying that he would reveal the reasons behind his scathing social media post following his retirement.
(CricketNext inputs)
