I can be the answer to India's middle-order woes, says Manoj Tiwary

What's the story?

Out-of-favour Indian middle order batsman Manoj Tiwary has said that he can be the solution to India's middle order woes. He also added that he has been consistent in the domestic circuit over the years and it's all about getting that opportunity to represent the Men in Blue again.

When asked about him being a possible solution to struggling Indian middle order, Tiwary said, "Yes, I believe so (being the answer to India's middle-order woes). I have done well over the years and shown tremendous consistency. It’s about getting that opportunity now."

He also admitted that he does not have an answer on what has gone wrong to get dropped from the team and conceded that what the selectors think matters the most.

"To be honest, I don’t have any answer on what went wrong. You got to ask this question to the selectors because what they are thinking matters the most. As a player we can only perform out there in the middle," he said in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times.

In case you didn't know...

Along with Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary was hailed as the future of Indian cricket a decade ago and made his debut for the Indian team against Australia in 2008. Since then, he has played only 12 ODIs in which he has scored 287 runs in 12 innings at an average of 26 and a highest score of 104*.

Earlier this week, he was named the best cricketer by the CAB.

Extra cover: CAB name Manoj Tiwary best cricketer, Ashok Dinda best bowler

Details

Tiwary has been consistent over the years for whichever team he has played for. He averages 52 in 95 First-Class matches and in List A, he averages 40.23 in 132 matches, numbers that are too good to be ignored.

He has a great 2016-17 season that saw him taking Bengal and East Zone to glory in the Inter State T20 and Syed Mushtaq Ali zonal T20 competitions respectively. He also played a crucial role in taking Bengal to the finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Tiwary continued his good form in the 2017 IPL for Rising Pune Supergiant as he played some crucial knocks throughout the tournament.

Extra cover: Manoj Tiwary hits back at Rashid Latif for his comments on Virender Sehwag

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Author's Take

Without a doubt, Manoj Tiwary is one of the unluckiest players to not have represented the Indian team on more occasions. In spite of his consistent performances in the domestic circuit, he was often ignored by the selectors.

However, there were the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Ajinkya Rahane taking care of the middle order in the last three years and it would have been difficult for any player to get into the side. With India in search of a good middle order batsman, Tiwary can be considered and given a chance to prove himself in the near future.