Manoj Tiwary reverses retirement call; gives himself 'one more year' to claim Ranji Trophy for Bengal

After five days of announcing his retirement, Manoj Tiwary has reversed his decision to give himself "one more year to play and win the Ranji Trophy" for Bengal. Manoj made his First-Class debut for Bengal in December 2004 against Delhi at the Eden Gardens but is yet to be a part of a Ranji Trophy-winning squad. The Manoj Tiwary-led side came close to winning the prestigious trophy in the 2022-23 season but ultimately went down to Saurashtra by nine wickets on their home turf.

Having won the title back in 1989-90, Bengal have come close to repeating their heroics four times (2005-06, 2006-07, 2019-20, 2022-23) in the last couple of decades but haven't been able to cross the final hurdle.

Manoj mentioned that the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Snehashish Ganguly convinced him to carry on for one more year and to retire from the field. He also added that his wife too agrees and a lot of his fans reached out to him and requested him to rethink his decision.

"Raj da (Ganguly) convinced me to continue playing (in the Ranji Trophy) for one more year and I should leave while on the field. So I thought about it. I spoke to my wife, and she convinced me too," said Manoj in a press meet as quoted by ESPNcricinfo at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, August 8.

"She reminded me that I was the captain when Bengal reached the Ranji Trophy final last year. And then Raj da spoke to me, I thought about it and decided to come back. A lot of fans also wrote to me and asked me to reconsider my decision."

Reflecting on his decision to retire from the sport Manoj said that it was an "emotional decision made in haste and after he had gone blank." He also added that he had been a bit selfish while taking the call to move away from the game and it wasn't a collective decision.

"The reason was… I am an emotional person - some of you might be able to relate to this - a phase comes when things go blank, and people make decisions in haste. I did too. Then I realised that it was a mistake. So I am coming out of retirement for one last year," added Tiwary.

"Bengal cricket has given me everything, so I want to give Bengal one more year, I want to give Bengal one more try. When I make the announcement next year, there won't be a U-turn. I was a little selfish in making the decision. It was an emotional decision. But I realised that it was not a collective (for the team) decision."