A sportsperson’s life more often than not is full of struggles. More so in India, where competition can be intense. But then, Indian sport is abound with stories where despite humble background, players rose to became stars with sheer discipline and hard work. Former India player Manoj Tiwary is one such name. He played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India. But had he been a little more fortunate, he would have featured in more international matches.

Tiwary played with the likes Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir  during his time with the Indian cricket team. He scored 796 runs at an average 99.50 in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy season. He led Bengal for a long time and was one of the best cricketers to emerge from the state. 

Tiwary, however, had to face a lot of struggle both on and off the field. He even thought of taking early retirement after he did not get enough opportunities for an extended period in the Indian team. 

“Due to responsibility, I did not take early retirement,” he said. 

He was also asked on his struggle in the teenage years when he had to work hard to pay off loans. “Those were difficult times. One thing I always had in mind was that I had to pay off the loan. We have Mangla Haat In Kolkata, there I used to sell poori sabzi. My mom used to make the pooris. Sometimes people did not even pay for the food that they ate,” Manoj Tiwary said on Lallantop. 

“I worked in factories of nut and bolts. This was around when I was around 14 years old. I got Rs 1200 per match when I played in U-16 level. So I did the maths and made sure I did well in cricket so that the  money always comes. I ran away from the factory. It was too hectic. The factory owner used to make us work.” 

When his debut came in 2008 it was not special. He slammed his maiden ODI century against West Indies in Chennai in 2011, but was benched for months after that game. MS Dhoni was the skipper of the side duting that time.

“He was the captain. Team India runs according to the planning of the skipper. In state teams, things are different but in Team India its all about the captain. If you see, during Kapil Dev’s time it was he who ran the show, during Sunil Gavaskar’s tenure it was his call, same was during Mohammad Azharuddin’s tenure. After that Dada and so on. This will go on unless a strict administrator comes and makes a set rule,” Manoj Tiwary said. 

“You see Ajit Agarkar (current BCCI chief selector) and you feel he can take strong decisions. He can disagree with the coach. As far as me being dropped for 14 matches after scoring a century, if a player is dropped after scoring a century, obviously I want to know the answer. After century I was praised, but post that I did not have any inkling. At that time, youngsters used to feel afraid, including me. If you ask something, who knows what way it could have been taken. Career is on the line.

“The players who were in the team then were Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. After that the Tour which took place, they were not making runs. And here I was, even after making a century and winning Player of the Match, could not find a place in playing XI. I was dropped for 14 matches, which took place in a space of six months. At that time the dropped player did not get enough practice. I wanted to retire but due to family responsibility could not.”