Former Bengal skipper, Manoj Tiwary has lately caught the limelight for some of his bold statements. The player had recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and appeared in his final Ranji Trophy game for Bengal against Bihar at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Tiwary walked down memory lane and recalled a serious altercation from the past involving his former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir. In an interview with Sports Now, the 38-year-old said that the verbal back and forth with Gambhir remains one of his biggest regrets ever.
In 2015, in a group-stage game between Bengal and Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium (then known as the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium), Manoj Tiwary came in to bat at No.4 donning a cap. But then, he wanted to replace the cap with a helmet after realising that a pacer would be given the ball. Gautam Gambhir, who was stationed at first slip, got upset, which led to an on-field altercation.
“The fight I had with Gambhir that day is the only regret I have because people who know me will tell you that I am not that sort of a person who goes out there and quarrels with seniors. It is one of those memories that I could have avoided. I have a good relationship with my seniors, but due to one incident, it spoiled my image,” said Tiwary.
Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the duo were a part of KKR’s maiden IPL triumph in 2012, forming a close relationship in the process.
“That is why I said it is my biggest regret because we were very close at one point in time. While playing for KKR, we used to have a lot of discussions and brainstorm over who to pick in Kolkata. The relationship was such that we used to go into details and inputs. But things didn’t pan out the way that it should have,” Manoj Tiwary added.
Rumours also emerged back in those days that Gautam Gambhir had asked Manoj Tiwary to meet him outside after the match. “Was it true that Gambhir had said, ‘Tu bahar mil match ke baad, and aaj tu gaya?’ (Meet me after the match and you are finished today),” the interviewer asked.
Manoj Tiwary replied, “Yeah (laughs), and that was very immature of him to say that. In Kotla, the journalist’s tent is inside the ground, and everyone hears every word said there.”
Having scored over 10,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy for his state, Manoj Tiwary made his debut for India in an ODI in 2008. He went on to feature in 12 ODIs and three T20Is, making his final appearance for the Men in Blue in 2015.
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