3 reasons why Manoj Tiwary was unfortunate to have not played too many games for India

Manoj Tiwary announced his retirement on Thursday, August 3. The right-handed batter posted a lengthy statement on Instagram to officially bid farewell to all formats of cricket.

Tiwary played 15 ODI matches for the Indian cricket team. He debuted back in 2008 and played his last ODI in 2015. In the T20I format, Tiwary got only three chances in 2011 and 2012.

Many fans would know that Manoj Tiwary was a consistent performer in domestic cricket. He was a match-winner for Bengal across all formats. Even in the IPL, Tiwary played some brilliant knocks for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Still, he only got 18 games in the Indian jersey.

In this listicle now, we will look at the three reasons why Manoj Tiwary was unfortunate to have not played too many games for India.

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#1 Manoj Tiwary scored almost 10,000 first-class runs but 0 Test caps

While India tried Manoj Tiwary in ODIs and T20Is, he never got an opportunity to don the whites for the nation. He was in line to make his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2007, but an injury ruled him out, and he never got another chance.

Tiwary scored 9,908 runs in 225 first-class innings and maintained an impressive average of 48.56.

The right-handed batter had been a consistent performer for Bengal. In 2012, speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, the Bengal batter expressed his disappointment after being ignored by the selectors for the Test side.

"Yeah, it was (disappointing), but I try to keep myself positive and be patient. I am young and still have lots of time," Tiwary had said then.

For the record, Tiwary scored 29 centuries and 45 half-centuries in the first-class arena. His highest score was 303*, highlighting that he had the skills to play marathon knocks in the middle. Unfortunately, he never played a Test match for the Indian cricket team.

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#2 Manoj Tiwary did not receive a fair chance in T20I cricket

Tiwary proved himself as a match-winner in the IPL. He was one of the few batters who could score quick runs while batting at any position in the top order and the middle order.

In IPL 2010, Tiwary blasted a 29-ball half-century on a challenging wicket in Kolkata for KKR against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Later in the season, he scored 75* off 48 while batting at No.4 against the Punjab Kings in Mohali.

He made his T20I debut against England in Kolkata, where he scored 15 runs off 17 balls in a match where India managed 120/9 in 20 overs. Tiwary did not play another T20I for almost a year. He earned a place in the playing XI for the match against Sri Lanka in August 2012 and New Zealand in September 2012.

India lost by three wickets against Sri Lanka and by four wickets against the Blackcaps. However, Tiwary was not sent to bat. He never played in T20Is again for India.

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#3 Manoj Tiwary could have been a valuable all-rounder

Apart from his batting, Tiwary could contribute to the team with his leg-spin bowling skills as well. In fact, in an ODI against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium on July 31, 2012, Tiwary scalped a four-wicket haul.

He could have been a valuable all-rounder for the Indian team, but some unfortunate injuries as well as hard luck in selection led to Tiwary making only 18 appearances for India.