'Had to pay off loan, sold poori sabzi' - Manoj Tiwary recalls hardships during teenage years

The glitz and glamour associated with Indian cricketers overshadows the struggles they encounter on their journey. All the cricketers do not come from affluent families. Many cricketers have to struggle on their way to success. One such example is Manoj Tiwary, who has played for India in 12 ODIs and three T20Is. He has shared the Indian dressing room with legends like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, among others. He could have played a lot more matches for the Men in Blue had he been a little more fortunate.

The former Bengal captain said in a recent interview that he contemplated taking early retirement after he was left out of the Indian team for a lengthy period. However, family responsibilities forced him to continue playing. He also revealed that he used to sell poori sabzi (popular Indian food) in Kolkata during his teenage days before working at a nuts and bolts factory.

"Due to responsibility, I did not take early retirement. 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 to 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," he added.

Team India runs according to the planning of the skipper: Manoj Tiwary

Tiwary scored his maiden ODI ton against the West Indies in Chennai in 2011. However, he was benched for months after that game. MS Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team during that time. Tiwary stated that Team India runs according to the skipper's planning.

"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.

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Tiwary recalled that when he was with the Indian team, youngsters were afraid to ask questions as they were concerned about their spots.

"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 cricketer-turned-expert said.

Tiwary said that the likes of Kohli, Rohit, and Suresh Raina were preferred ahead of him even when they were not scoring runs.

"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," Tiwary said.