India batter Saurabh Tiwary revealed that winning the Ranji Trophy was one dream he was unable to achieve after Jharkhand ended their Ranji Trophy campaign with an 89-run victory over Rajasthan. On Monday, Tiwary a popular figure in Jharkhand drew curtains on his professional cricket career. When he came out to bat in the second innings, Rajasthan players lined up to give him a guard of honour. Tiwary led the team and struck 42 in the first innings in his farewell game and after the conclusion of his professional cricket he talked about his unfulfilled dream of lifting the Ranji Trophy and vowed to help the team to achieve it.
“Cricket has taught me two things. One is that you have to fight for everything, and the second is that you need to understand you won’t get everything in life. Some things will remain out of reach. I had a dream that we will win the Ranji Trophy but I couldn’t achieve it. That takes us back to the thing about fighting for everything. I will now try to play my part in helping the team win the Ranji Trophy, but from the outside. And I will do whatever I can to make it happen,” Tiwary said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
During his career, the left-handed batter went on to play three ODIs for Team India, amassed 49 runs and stayed unbeaten in the two of them.
Tiwary was the captain when the only time Jharkhand won a domestic tournament – the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2010-11.
Overall, he has 8076 runs in first-class, 4050 in List A cricket and 3454 in T20, however, his dream of winning the Ranji Trophy remained unfulfilled.
Emotions were clearly visible on his face when he walked out of the dressing room and stepped on the crease to bat.
“Saying farewell to your favourite thing isn’t easy, my friend. When I left the dressing room and was entering the ground, it was very emotional. My whole journey, from the time I was a kid to now, flashed before my eyes. I started my career here [at Keenan Stadium] and am finishing here too. My favourite people, including my coach [Kajal Das] had come to be part of the occasion. Sometimes, it’s difficult to express the feeling,” Tiwary said.
Moments after the match concluded, tears came out from Tiwary’s eyes, he bent down to kiss the turf with his coach Kajal Das in attendance to witness the final match of Jharkahnd’s top batter.
Das who has also coached Jharkhand, recalled Tiwary’s early cricketing days which gave insight into the personality of the left-handed batter.
“He must have been 15 or 16, and a ball hit his head during training. He needed some stitches. He went to the hospital and came right back to me. I told him to pad up and go bat in the nets [and he did so] – I wanted to see if he was scared and wanted to test him. I have never had a student as dedicated as Saurabh. His keenness to be at the ground and his hunger for runs is unmatched,” Das said.
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