Climbing up the Aussieway

Among the youngsters knocking on Team India doors this summer, the inclusion of 21-year-old Manoj Tiwary left comes as the least surprising one. The middle-order batsman and leg-spinner is going through the form of his life, having amassed close to 800 first-class runs this season, at a phenomenal average of 99.50 in the Ranji Trophy. Known as a fitness fanatic, Tiwary, closely resembles Mohammed Kaif in gait. Only in his second first class season, Tiwary became the spearhead of Bengal8217;s batting, powering his team to the Ranji Trophy final for the second time on the trot. Contrary to popular perception, Tiwary isn8217;t just cut out for the shorter version of the game, and he proved that with a series of tall scores in the Ranji Trophy. He opened his run carnage with an unbeaten 210 against Mumbai at Eden Gardens, posting two more huge tons and a fighting 94 against Zaheer, Agarkar 038; Co in the final at Mumbai. Known to keep his cool while living in the fast lane, the youngster backs up his batting prowess with exceptional ground fielding, adept in manning the cover, point, gully or slips. He didn8217;t bowl much this season, but his fastish leg-spin can be handy. An interesting feature about the precocious talent is the strong Greg Chappell schooling he is brought up on. Although he never got to closely interact with the former coach, Tiwary8217;s coach Manab Ghosh will tell you how the Kalighat Club player intensively follows Chappell8217;s tips from his famous coaching website chappellway.com.

Former India coach Greg Chappell before leaving India had said Manoj Tiwary is the player to watch out for.

Tiwary8217;s biggest asset is his temperament, which saw him rise fast in the Bengal ranks to become their captain this season-end, leading a team comprising of seniors like Sourav Ganguly, Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, in the national Twenty20 championship.