Manoj Tiwary, one of the few cricketers to enter politics, has announced his retirement from all varieties of cricket.
"Goodbye to the game of cricket," the former India batsman wrote in an Instagram post.
"This game has given me everything, I mean every single thing which I had never dreamt of, starting from the times when my life was challenged by different forms of difficulties.
"I will always be grateful to this game and to the GOD, who has always been by my side throughout.”
The 37-year-old right-hander played 12 ODIs and three T20Is between 2008 and 2015, and quite remarkably entered politics while still an active cricketer. He was a minister of state for sports and youth affairs in West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's state cabinet.
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For the 2022-23 domestic season, Tiwary returned to play for Bengal and helped take the team to the final at the Eden Gardens. In what would be Tiwary's last First-Class game, they lost to Saurashtra.
Tiwary scored 287 runs from 12 one-dayers, including a hundred against West Indies in Chennai in December 2011.
His misfortune was he was competing with Suresh Raina in the batting order, with the latter often getting the nod from selectors and then captain MS Dhoni.
In a nearly two-decade long First-Class cricket he made 9908 runs at an average of 48.56 with 29 centuries.
The IPL was another important chapter in Tiwary’s career. He struck the winning runs in the last over as Kolkata Knight Riders won their first ever title in 2012, as they chased 191 against the CSK.
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Later on, Tiwary also played for Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants. In total, he played 183 T20s, scoring 3436 runs at a strike rate of 116.43.
In his message, Tiwary expressed gratitude towards his childhood coach Manabendra Ghosh, his colleagues and family.
“Manabendra Ghosh, my father figure like coach, has been the pillar in the cricketing journey. If he had not been there then I would have not reached anywhere in the cricketing circle. Thank you Sir and wish you a speedy recovery, as your health is not keeping well.
“Thank you to my Dad and Mom, they both never put pressure on me to focus on my studies rather they encouraged me to continue in cricket. Big thank you to my wife, @roy_susmita7 who has always been on my side from the time she came into my life," Tiwary wrote.
