Bengal sealed a hard-fought win over Jharkhand in the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016/17 here in Delhi at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The Manoj Tiwary led side defeated MS Dhoni-led side by a margin of 41 runs, to seal a final clash against Tamil Nadu on March 20.
The match would not have stretched to last overs if Ashoke Dinda would not have dropped a sitter of MS Dhoni at Long-off when the former Indian skipper was batting on a score of just six. Speaking on that dropped catch, Tiwary said that he was not tensed but was a bit worried about that,
“Not completely tensed but I was a little worried because I told boys that we have to take half chances and catches win matches is the saying. So obviously back of the mind you always think that it should have been taken especially when you see three big sixes out of the park by MS Dhoni.”
It was at the same stadium on March 12 in the year 2012 when Bengal defeated Mumbai in the final of the same tournament under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly. On being asked about winning the tournament for him, Tiwary said,
“Defintely, for Sourav. He was the part of that team and led the team to a victory and we will try to do the same.”
Tiwary opined that the final game against Tamil Nadu will be a tough one for Bengal as Tamil Nadu is a strong team and will be a tough side to beat,
“That will be a tough game because they are very straight smart cricketrs and they know to to utilise these kind of wickets. They play on these kind of wickets throughout the season back in Chennai but we have defeated a strong side today and we want to take the confidence in next game and enjoy ourselves.”
Tiwary also revealed the message from Sourav Ganguly to tackle MS Dhoni in the semi-final game and said,
“Dada told us that Dhoni is very strong straight so we should try to bowl as much as outside the off-stump. During their innings, the ball started keeping low, so I told my bowlers to bowl a bit straighter. Once he hit (Amir) Gani for two sixes, I told them to bowl outside off-stump.”
In the last question regarding whether he will be calling Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the man who scored a century when last time Bengal won Vijay Hazare Trophy Trophy, Manoj had a big laugh over this question,
“Definitely I will be calling Laxmi Ratan Shukla if my call reaches him. He is a minister now.”