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Skipper Manoj Tiwary silenced his critics by smashing an unbeaten double century before Bengal declared its innings at a mammoth 510 for nine against Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match here on Tuesday.
Resuming at 246 for four, Bengal plundered a further 264 runs with Tiwary (201 not out) completing his fifth First Clbad double century on the eve of his 33rd birthday. Tiwary began the day at 31.
The Madhya Pradesh bowlers had a tough day despite a five-wicket haul by young Shubham Sharma (five for 59). At close on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh was 15 for no loss with plenty to ponder with two days to go.
For Tiwary, the build-up to the Ranji season was full of drama after the Sourav Ganguly-led Cricket Association of Bengal gave him an ‘ultimatum’ naming him skipper only for the first two matches.
Tiwary decided to step down after Bengal’s Ranji opener in Himachal Pradesh but changed his mind after scoring a first innings half-century. He was also lucky as he was dropped twice during his innings on Monday.
Team mentor Arun Lal had said this morning that the team wanted a double hundred from him. Tiwary did not let the mentor and the team down, playing with dogged determination to complete his century in 166 balls with a boundary off leg-spinner Mihir Hirwani.
Emotional moments
An aggressive celebration followed with Tiwary pointing his bat towards the club house. The bat was also special for him as he had his four-month-old son Yuvaan’s name embossed on it.
“There were a lot of emotional moments. That’s why the special celebration,” said Tiwary, rating the knock as his second-beat behind the 210 he made against Mumbai.
“This is for the ones who don’t like me or my batting. Hopefully, they won’t tell that I be dropped. There were also rumours that I would be removed from captaincy and the team. I have nothing to say,” Tiwary said.
“Been honestly playing for 14-15 years. Took it as a challenge. Certainly there was pressure. So it felt sweeter,” said Tiwary. “I am also a human being. I will celebrate (my birthday) at home,” he added.
The scores: Bengal 510 for nine decl. in 149.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 201 n.o., Koushik Ghosh 100, Abhimanyu Easwaran 86, Shubham Sharma five for 59) vs Madhya Pradesh 15 for no loss in 10 overs.
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