EXCLUSIVE: Manoj Tiwary on day-night games and BCCI reforms

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  • For Manoj Tiwary, playing for the state comes first (Getty)

    Manoj Tiwary’s name is one that has consistently been perceived as on the fringes of the national side yet at the same time, somewhat distanced from it. A strange cocktail of injury and misfortune have restricted him to 12 ODIs and three T20Is in national colours, despite credible performances for Bengal in this time.

    His time away from the international arena, however, has consequently meant greater time spent on the domestic scene. It has sharpened Tiwary’s knowledge of the domestic game beyond measure, and his meditations on zonal and state-level cricket in the country reveal a keen understanding of players, conditions and the game’s future in India.

    In an exclusive interaction with Sport360.com, Tiwary demonstrates that understanding as he shares his thoughts on pink ball cricket, his time in the Dhaka Premier League and the future of Bengal cricket.

    The biggest story in Bengal cricket right now is how the Super League final played out under lights. How significant is this pink ball match to Bengal cricket right now?

    It’s obviously a proud moment for the state because it hosted India’s first pink ball game and that too, at the historic Eden Gardens. It’s a stadium where every player in the world loves to come and play at because of the passionate crowds and the great experience.

    'Everyone from around the world loves to play at the Eden Gardens'

    ‘Everyone from around the world loves to play at the Eden Gardens’

    The game has made a very big impact here in local cricket circles. Mostly because of the players who played it – they would never have thought that they’ll be playing a televised match that will be seen by viewers across the world. Barring a few, most of them haven’t played for their state side and it was a great opportunity for them to display their skills in front of family and friends.

    It’s a good opportunity for youngsters and the credit should go to Sourav Ganguly and the Cricket Association of Bengal for initiating the idea of having a pink ball match.

    Do you think that pink ball cricket will catch on and become a regular thing? Or is it just that interest might die out completely soon?

    I would say it’s a 50-50 call to be honest, because in India, we have a different culture than what we see overseas. In other countries, people love to be out of their homes in the day time, prefer going out, having a drink and coming to the ground to watch the match.

    In India however, there is a culture where people work from 9 to 5 and for them, it’s going to be very difficult to show up for the whole day’s play on a regular basis due to work constraints. Although one can’t say with certainty for all you may know they might turn up each and every day, but it’s likely that we’ll see crowds on some days with a varying attendance on others.

    'Credit should go to Ganguly for initiating the idea of a pink ball game'

    ‘Credit should go to Ganguly for initiating the idea of a pink ball game’

    The pink ball in general tends to favour the bowlers – given that a lot of rules in cricket benefit the batsman, do you think the pink ball could affect the acceptance of day-night cricket?

    As a batsman, I would definitely not prefer the pink ball because it does a lot and it becomes difficult to score runs. But having said that, it’s a challenging situation and if the pink ball is persisted with, it’s going to make sure that players start working on their skills more – since at times in India, you can get away without having a proper technique. Against the pink ball however, you’ll need to have a good technique and have to play patiently in order to counter the swing, there won’t be plenty of loose balls.

    As far as acceptance of the pink ball is concerned, it will depend a lot on the kind of crowd coming in to watch the game. In today’s age people are more used to being entertained by seeing big sixes and fours, and players smashing it all over the park. But that won’t be the case with the pink ball.

    It boils down to whether the crowd will be able to appreciate a good leave or a nice defensive shot, like we see in most English venues. As a result, this format’s success will depend on the crowd’s acceptance of something that is different from what they are used to seeing.

    Can this format help the resurgence of the game, especially the longer format, or is it just a gimmick?

    No, it’s not a gimmick. I think it’s a great idea to come up with, because, as you know, the future is going towards the shorter formats. And there is a possibility to even see 10-over competitions soon.

    The formats need to be adapted to suit people’s demand for shorter games, and due credit must be given to whoever is responsible for coming up with this concept of day-night white clothing games. At the end of the day, one needs to understand that cricketers always want to play Test cricket because of the way it tests their skills, and it is important that people find ways to keep Test cricket alive irrespective of how much money leagues like the IPL offers.

    Speaking of the IPL, you personally went unsold in the IPL auction. Was that a major disappointment, or did you just simply move on to the next challenge?

    I was a little disappointed, not happy to be honest. I was expecting somebody would pick me up especially since I knew that I had recovered from my injury well before the start of the season.

    But I have also moved on from that point because I knew that there were a couple of teams who were looking for me and I was very sure that they would have picked me, but you know what happens. Most of the people also don’t know that I had played the Ranji Trophy quarter-final for Bengal with a calf injury.

    TIWARY'S IPL STATS

    • Matches: 78
    • Runs: 1324 @ 28.78
    • Strike-rate: 113.25
    • Highest: 75*

    That injury happened to me during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy [that preceded the Ranji knockouts], and in the very first match I got injured. So I couldn’t play the next four matches and the team didn’t do well while I was in the process of rehab. The doctors clearly said that if you play the quarter-final, there is a possibility of you getting injured further with chances of a complete calf tear, which would really have been a big blow because I would have been out for about 3-4 months.

    But I always wanted to play for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and I wanted to make sure that the team did well because I had the vision of winning the competition. The quarter-final was a very big match for us and there wasn’t a replacement at that point of time.

    I took a chance and never thought that I might miss the IPL because of a complete tear. I was confident of being fit well before the IPL. The last stage of my rehab was going on when I played the quarter-final. But that’s a part of life that at times is not fair, so one needs to get used to it.

    So whatever expectation I had from a couple of franchise owners, after that I knew that nobody is there to help you, nobody is there to back you. It’s just that you yourself will have to do well and motivate yourself to just get back on the field and prove everyone wrong. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’ve stopped expecting from people, or from anyone.

    Tiwary in action against Australia A (File Photo)

    Tiwary in action against Australia ‘A’ (File Photo)

    After the IPL episode, you signed up to play in the Dhaka Premier League. How has that experience proved to be different from playing in India?

    I would like to thank BCCI for granting me the chance to play in the Dhaka Premier League as I had a good experience playing there. I played a single game and scored 40. I remember that the track was assisting the spinners a lot, and due to the rain there were constant stoppages in play.

    I returned after playing a single match as I had club leagues over here in Calcutta where I was captaining my side. Once I came back, it was difficult to go back as the DPL matches were scheduled almost in a back-to-back manner. But I would say it’s a good experience to have, because you go out there as a professional and you know what kind of responsibility you have as a professional cricketer.

    The BCCI has proposed a whole raft of changes in India’s domestic structure. Do you think that these changes would make the domestic game more competitive?

    Currently, all the matches are already very competitive; one doesn’t get matches very easily.

    What will happen as a result of BCCI’s new rules is that home advantage will no longer be enjoyed by teams.

    BCCI'S DOMESTIC REFORMS

    • Day-night Duleep Trophy games
    • Zonal Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy
    • Neutral venues for Ranji Trophy games

    Earlier, on a number of occasions, teams used to read the opposition’s weaknesses and used to prepare the conditions accordingly. In Tamil Nadu for instance, we have seen that they make square turners where the ball starts turning from the first delivery itself. This is done because they have three spinners in their line-up and they try and take advantage of that.

    So I think to curtail that kind of an advantage, it’s a good idea to have a neutral venue where, as a home team, you don’t have control over the preparation of the pitches, where you have to prepare surfaces according to guidelines set by the BCCI.

    It’s all about the players only – you want to help the players. So the more challenging the conditions as we go into a neutral venue, the better it is. The need to adapt will help players improve their skills because usually when you play at home you know exactly how the surface is going to behave and as a result you don’t need to adapt much.

    These changes are going to be for the betterment of cricket for sure.

    'Chatterjee (L) and Easwaran (R) are players to watch out for'

    ‘Chatterjee (L) and Easwaran (R) are players to watch out for’

    Any thoughts on the general direction that Bengal cricket will take in the future?

    It’s heading in the right direction with implementation of programs such as Vision 2020 where you have the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, VVS Laxman and TA Sekhar coming in to help the youngsters. We also have Sairaj Bahutule as our coach, ably supported by a local support staff.

    Youngsters are getting the opportunity to learn from them and it’s commendable how these big names work from morning till evening to just make sure a player is improving every time, every given day.

    With both the Vision 2020 and pink ball initiative, Sourav Ganguly and his team are trying to make sure that Bengal cricket is heading in the right direction, and for sure you’ll see more players from the state playing for India ‘A’ and India soon.

    You mentioned how you hope to see local players making it to the national side soon. Is there anyone in particular that you have your eye on?

    There are a couple of players who have been very consistent. For instance, Sudip Chatterjee is scoring a lot of runs. Last season he scored over 700 with the bat. Abhimanyu Easwaran is also someone who has scored and has the technique. He seems very compact at the crease.

    Apart from these two, there are fast bowlers who are coming up. So, maybe in another couple of seasons, I’m sure that most of the guys will be a part of India ‘A’ for sure – if they remain consistent in their performances.

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