West Bengal Sports Minister Manoj Tiwary Named In Bengal's 21-Member Ranji Trophy Squad

Veteran Bengal cricketer Manoj Tiwary, who is the current minister of state in sports and youth affairs of the West Bengal government, has been named in the state team’s 21-member squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.

Tiwary, who has made 8965 runs from 125 First-Class matches for Bengal, is all set to play in his 17th year of domestic cricket.

Manoj Tiwary to play for Bengal in Ranji Trophy 2022

Tiwary last played for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 where he accumulated 52 runs from four innings. This will be the first time that he will play since assuming the office of West Bengal’s sports minister portfolio.

The 36-year-old Tiwary, in May 2021, won his maiden election for the regional political party Trinamool Congress (TMC) after contesting from the Shibpur constituency of West Bengal.

I enjoy the game and I have a lot to contribute to Bengal cricket: Manoj Tiwary

The player’s shift to politics hinted at his cricket career’s end, but to everyone’s surprise, the former Bengal captain will continue to play for his state on the parallel lines of holding the state’s ministry post.

“As far as playing is concerned, I have passion, I enjoy the game and I have a lot to contribute to Bengal cricket. This is the reason why I’m continuing to play cricket. Whatever I’m today is because of my cricket,” Tiwary told The Indian Express in July last year.

The Bengal camp was hit with COVID-19 cases as seven members returned positive for the dreadful virus. However, Sudip Chatterjee, Anustup Majumdar, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Geet Puri and Pradipta Pramanik, who were tested positive for COVID-19, have been included in the 21-member squad.

Bengal is placed in Elite Group B of the premier domestic tournament along with Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tripura and Vidarbha.

The team will be led by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and will kick off their campaign against Tripura on January 13 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Bengal’s 21-member squad for Ranji Trophy: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Manoj Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee, Anustup Majumdar, Abhishek Raman, Sudip Gharami, Abishek Das, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Abhishek Porel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Akash Deep, Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Sakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Geet Puri, Nilakantha Das and Karan Lal.

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