Mahendra Singh Dhoni fans booed Saurabh Tiwary for not giving their star a chance to bat for Jharkhand as they chanted ‘Saurabh Tiwary Hai Hai’ at Kalyani Stadium in West Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Services on Tuesday (February 28).
Jamshedpur-born Tiwary scored an unbeaten 102 off 103 balls – to give his side a comfortable seven-wicket win in a Group D match.
Former Indian skipper Dhoni’s die-hard fans were unhappy with the left-handed batsman Tiwary, who wanted to see their favourite player entertain them with the willow.
“We must understand that they’re emotional as Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) never played here. Being a professional I did not mind. We were subjected to much more sledging on the field,” Tiwary was quoted as saying by PTI.
Reports suggested the ground was jampacked and a school near the ground was occupied by the fans even before the start of the game.
The fans were left disappointed when Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi (116* off 92 balls) put on a 214-run unbeaten partnership for the fourth wicket to chase down the target of 277 in 46.4 overs.
After Jharkhand were 65 for three in the 17th over, Tiwary was dropped on naught and Jaggi on 25 before Services bowlers leaked runs.
Both then kept the scoreboard ticking by hitting boundaries while rotating the strike which further angered the crowd in the stands.
The left-right combination handed Jharkhand its second win in the List-A 50-over format so far before Dhoni celebrated the win with his boys.