‘I Hope No Aspiring Cricketer…’: Harbhajan Singh Posts Cryptic Tweet To Congratulate Manoj Tiwary On Bengal Election Win

Former cricketer-turned TMC leader Manoj Tiwary’s name was included in the list of 24 cabinet ministers and 19 ministers of state, released by the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary, who joined TMC just ahead of the West Bengal elections, has been given the portfolio of Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs.

The 35-year old contested from Shibpur Vidhansabha constituency in the West Bengal Elections and defeated BJP candidate Rathindranath Chakraborty.

“This victory belongs to every citizen of Shibpur, this victory belongs to all who supported me & also who didn’t. Congratulations to all of you! But it’s not the right time to celebrate. We will wait till out Bengal wins the battle over Covid-19. Stay safe, Joy Bangla,” tweeted Tiwary after his victory. 

Tiwary, a prolific middle order batsman, is a cricketer who has been the captain of the West Bengal cricket team and has also played for India in three T20Is and 12 ODIs.

During his 15 international appearances for team India, Manoj Tiwary has scored 302 runs, which also includes a hard-fought ton. The senior batsman has also played in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) and has represented franchises like Kings XI Pujab, Rising Pune SuperGiants, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Senior Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh took to twitter to congratulate Tiwary as he wrote,”Congratulations @tiwarymanoj.. with the hurdles you have faced in your career (after being such a magnificent player) I hope no aspiring cricketer goes through the same experience .. God bless you ! All the Best.”

The star batsman played Test cricket for Indian cricket team between 2008 and 2015. In the post-Sourav Ganguly era, Tiwary is considered to be arguably the one of the most talented batsmen from West Bengal.

The word ‘Unlucky’ probably best describes the right-handed batsman’s career. India is undoubtedly a land of fierce competition and Tiwary failed to seal a permanent spot in the India batting lineup due to big names and fierce competition. Even after scoring a match-winning hundred (104 not out) in the year 2011 against West Indies, Tiwary was benched for 14 successive matches.

BCCI picked him in team India for the Asia Cup 2012 but again he didn’t play any matches. After that, Tiwary got a few chances here and there but was dropped eventually. He has been batting superbly in the domestic circuit, but has failed to secure a place in the national squad since 2015.