Time for Tiwary to put the boot in

"There is pressure, yes, but not much. There is competition of course but I am confident and ready." Manoj Tiwary has to be ready - this could be his make or break season. Two years back he was the chief fringe player for India before an injury pushed the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and even Virat Kohli ahead in the queue. Now the wheel has turned a reasonably full circle - Raina is injured, Rohit is in iffy form and Tiwary is at the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia to try and jump ahead.

Now, if only his luck holds.

Rewind to a fielding session ahead of the ODI series against Bangladesh in 2007. Tiwary, due to make his India debut, threw himself full stretch to stop a ball but injured his shoulder and was out of the series. He was out of cricket for eight months, going through the tough recuperation process alone. His bad luck didn't end there, though.

In 2008, Tiwary was rushed to Australia as a replacement for the injured Yuvraj Singh, made his ODI debut - still jet-lagged - against the home side and received the perfect yorker from Brett Lee to fall for just 2. He has not played for India since. Two good domestic seasons later, Tiwary was named in the probables for the ICC World Twenty20 but more agony waited around the corner. In the IPL's second season this year, he met with another injury and was out of the tournament and the World Twenty20.

"Lots of youngsters have gone ahead of me," Tiwary says. He is just 23 but that's the lot of domestic cricketers in Indian cricket; you age quickly if you are not in the spotlight and 25-26 is the dreaded age if you are playing only domestic cricket as you could be treated as 'too old' for India. "My bad fortune was good luck for them. That's life." However, there is a sliver of hope from the recent poor performances, especially against the short ball, from his contenders. And Tiwary knows it. "This could be my chance provided I continue to do well in this season. My chance might come."

Nicknamed Chhota dada in Bengal cricket, after Sourav Ganguly, Tiwary has been always a confident man. His hero is Sachin Tendulkar but he greatly admires - and seeks to emulate - Kevin Pietersen. He keeps tugging his sleeve at the crease like Pietersen, charges out to the seamers and strikes a very confident pose in the middle. "It is his confidence that I like. The courage to play shots and I like to play in a similar manner."

However, in the last domestic season or two, Tiwary has batted a bit more cautiously, with a more matured shot selection. Is this the new Tiwary? "No. I had to do that because Bengal was in a difficult stage in Ranji Trophy. We fought relegation to the Plate League and I was the main batsman for the team. I had to bat differently. Now I plan to return to my older aggressive self but with better shot selection."

His new nickname - given by Robin Uthappa - is Manni, which he has tattooed on his arm. Tiwary is reluctant to talk about it - "Nothing till I get back to playing for India. My focus is purely on that." Is it because he got some bad press about his 'attitude' in the past? "Hmm, that was so strange. It came after my IPL contract. [He was paid $675,000 to play for Delhi Daredevils] Everybody started saying I had turned arrogant. It was sad. What I got was due to my playing skills. People's opinion of me changed but I had not changed as a person beyond the cricket field. And God knows I needed that money."

The first major chunk of the money went into buying a new house for his parents. It was his chance to repay his father, a fitter with Railways who supported three kids with big aspirations on Rs 5000 per month. "I have always known about what it means to struggle. I have seen my father trying hard to make ends meet and support my cricket. So these injuries and other bad lucks haven't made me weak. I have been through worse. And I will bounce back."

The first act of his comeback is playing this week in Brisbane in the Emerging Players Tournament. Ironically, this was the venue when he received that Lee yorker. Tiwary remembers that moment: "I was sitting inside the dressing room, watching the TV and feeling extremely disappointed. Tendulkar saw me and asked me move out to the sitting area. He spoke about his own first dismissal and how he feared about international cricket. He was so kind. He asked me not to worry; anyone could have got out to that ball, just make sure do well when I get the next chance."

It didn't come in that series nor in the near future. Tiwary bumped into Tendulkar again during the IPL. Another chat ensued and Tendulkar again spoke and predicted a bright future ahead for Tiwary, provided he keeps doing well in the domestic cricket. Tiwary has set out to do just that. His time starts now.