Manoj Tiwary joins TMC ahead of elections in West Bengal

Veteran batsman Manoj Tiwary’s days in cricket seem to be numbered. Not a part of the Indian team anymore, the Bengal legend is definitely in the twilight of his career. In 2019, Tiwary had said he would like to play for ten more years but it looks like he has decided to bring down curtains on his long cricket career.

Tiwary is now all set for a fresh inning in his life. The 35-year old, on Wednesday (February 24) announced that he is joining politics. Tiwary has joined the All India Trinamool Congress, popularly called TMC. The party is currently the ruling party in West Bengal, Tiwary’s home state. The senior batsman took to Twitter to announce the decision. His decision has come just days before the elections in Bengal and it won’t be surprising if he contests the election this summer.

He asked his followers and well-wishers for their love and support and also shared the link of his ‘political profile’ on Instagram. Calling it a new journey, Tiwary tweeted: “A new journey begins from today. Need all your love & support. From now onwards this will be my political profile on Instagram.”

A new journey begins from today. Need all your love & support. From now onwards this will be my political profile on Instagram.https://t.co/uZ9idMW7lD

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) February 24, 2021

Not the first cricketer to join politics

Manoj Tiwary is not the first cricketer to join politics. In a country where the cricketers’ popularity is second to none, several cricketers in the past have tried their hands in politics. In 2019, Tiwary’s former India and IPL teammate Gautam Gambhir had joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and won the Lok Sabha seat from East Delhi.

Before Gambhir, the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Kirti Azad, and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi had also joined politics. Tiwary’s former Bengal teammate Laxmi Ratan Shukla is also a politician. Last month, Shukla had resigned as Bengal’s minister of state for sports and youth affairs and TMC Howrah (Sadar) president.

Tiwary would be hoping that his political career also takes off like other cricketers. The veteran batsman has not played for India since the ODI series in Zimbabwe in 2015. The right-handed batsman represented the national team in 12 ODIs and 3 T20Is, scoring a total of 302 runs with the help of 1 century and one fifty. He also picked up 5 wickets in ODIs.

Tiwary’s record in domestic cricket is far better. So far, he has played 125 first-class games and has scored nearly 9,000 runs with the help of 27 centuries and 37 fifties. He also has a triple-century to his name.