Ex-India player blames MS Dhoni, selectors for ‘crushing’ his confidence at the ‘peak of career’

Manoj Tiwary has reopened wounds of his controversial sacking from the Indian team over a decade ago, with the former India batter indirectly putting the blame on MS Dhoni and the BCCI selection committee which operated back in the day.

Tiwary scored a century against West Indies in an ODI in 2011, but got dropped the very next game, only to play his next match for India after eight months. He has spoken about his frustrations with the decision countless times before but whenever the topic of his omissions resurfaces, Tiwary can’t help but express his disappointment with it.

Earlier this year, Tiwary, a veteran Bengal cricketer, had said that he one day plans of asking Dhoni as to why the axe fell only on him, even when the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli weren’t getting runs 12 years ago. Keeping up with the pattern, Tiwary opened up on his snub once again, saying that although a plenty of water has flown under the bridge, getting dropped from the team at the ‘peak’ of his career did damage his confidence.

“See, it happened a long time ago. It’s a matter of the past, but yes, dukh to hota hi hai (It was sad). I would lie if I said it wasn’t saddening. What can we do? It’s life; but it needs to move forward. If I am to write my autobiography or I do a podcast of my own, I will reveal it all. But it wasn’t easy. When a player is at his peak, when his confidence is crushed, it causes a change in mindset,” Tiwary told Cricket Addictor in a chat.

Tiwary played 12 ODIs and three Tests for India between 2008 and 2015, a stark contrast to how he and experts envisioned his career to pan out. One of the brightest young talents of his generation, Tiwary was labelled as ‘Chhota Dada’, for his amazing record with the Bengal cricket team. He made his debut in the CB Series in Australia, but suffered a forgettable outing, getting bowled for by Brett Lee for 2 runs. After five low scores, Tiwary scored 104 not out in Chennai in December of 2011 but it wasn’t until July of 2012 that he played his next. He played just six ODIs since and failed to recreate that magic, eventually leading to his ouster from the Indian team.

Tiwary’s LLC experience

Tiwary recently was part of the Legends League Cricket, representing the leading the Manipal Tigers, being teammates with his former India pros Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha. Although his team failed to reach the Playoffs, Tiwary had a blast being part of the league.

“Feels great. I have played with most of them at some point on my career. These are legends whom we have seen growing up, so to play with them is a nice feeling. Even some of the players who announced their retirements slightly earlier, I would say, have joined the Legends League, so it’s always a warm feeling to reunite with them and playing,” added Tiwary.