Mahendra Singh Dhoni's booming bat has triggered welcome echoes in Jharkhand. Saurabh Tiwary, with his long mane and powerful shots, is one such player who found his inspiration in the man from Ranchi.
“Jharkhand was an obscure place. When Dhoni came into the picture, people started to know more about our place. Earlier, if you hailed from such a small cricketing centre, you were most likely to end up at the India ‘A' or Duleep Trophy levels.
“But when Dhoni became India captain, our confidence went up and he became our role model. Jharkhand became the Ranji One-day champions,” said Tiwary.
The 21-year-old, who was part of India's under-19 squad that won the World Cup in Malaysia in 2008, made rapid strides and played three ODIs besides doing well for Mumbai Indians in the earlier editions of the Indian Premier League.
A prized buy for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the current season, the youngster has, however, had middling returns at the crease with 95 runs from six innings for RCB.
“It's important to perform well individually, but at the moment the first preference is for the team to qualify. I am confident of doing well for RCB. Every batsman has his own strength.
“Some like to whack it over mid-wicket, but I would love to play in the ‘V',” Tiwary said and added that skipper Daniel Vettori was among the best captains he has played under over the years.
Tiwary does not want to be typecast as just another big-hitter only fit for limited-over matches. “I love all the three formats and I love Test cricket the most because you get the most opportunity to bat. A cricketer has to adapt and love all formats.
“Sachin sir still continues to amass runs in T20, 50-overs and Tests. I did well in domestic cricket last season. I don't think that the IPL performance alone should be the yardstick to be picked for India. If you perform well throughout the domestic season and fail to do the same in IPL, that doesn't mean that you are a bad player,” Tiwary said.
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