Manoj Tiwary, the current captain of Bengal and a former cricket player for India, demanded on social media on Saturday that the Ranji Trophy, the country's main domestic competition that has been in existence since 1934, be abolished. Due to the BCCI's Code of Conduct, Tiwary refrained from explaining his social media post on platform 'X,' although he stated that several things were 'going wrong' with the event.
Ranji Trophy veteran Tiwary has made 146 appearances in first-class cricket and collected over 10,000 runs since making his Bengal debut in 2004. Bengal have made two finals in the previous three seasons under Tiwary's 19-year Ranji Trophy tenure, although they haven't won a championship since their historic run in the 1989–1990 season. Between 2008 and 2015, he participated in 15 international matches for India, where he achieved a century in the One-Day International (ODI) format.
West Bengal's minister of sports, Tiwary, expressed his annoyance on social media on Saturday, stating that the Ranji Trophy has been 'losing its charm' and that India's domestic first-class event ought to be discontinued starting in the 2024–2025 season.
He posted on Twitter: Ranji trophy should be scrapped off from the calendar from the next season onwards. So many things going wrong in the tournament. So many things need to looked into in order to save this prestigious tournament which has a rich history. It’s losing its charm and importance. Absolutely frustrated'.
After going live on Facebook, Tiwary said that he would end his Ranji Trophy career after the current season, hinting at some of the problems that prompted him to publish the tweet.
Speaking on social media, Tiwary first drew attention to the subpar facilities in the changing rooms at the St. Xavier's College Ground in Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, where Bengal are playing Kerala in their last Elite Group B match.
' We are playing Kerala in a ground, not a stadium despite there being one built years ago,' he stated during the live session. 'We are being asked to play in a ground on the outskirts of the State." Because our dressing room and the one next to it are so near to one another that you can hear what the other is saying, the layout of the dressing rooms makes it impossible to even properly strategize. Privacy does not exist. In the future, I hope that this be investigated.'
He hasn't yet disclosed the true motivation for the tweet calling for the elimination of the Ranji Trophy, though. After his career ended, he pledged to disclose the cause.
' As a player and a state captain, I am bound by the BCCI's Code of Conduct, hence I am unable to go into greater detail at this time. During the game, I can't make any public statements,' he declared.
