Saurabh Tiwary was often compared to M.S. Dhoni, as much for his big hitting as his long mane. The left-hander was a part of the Virat Kohli-led Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. He promised a lot, but played only three ODIs. He also has a stellar First Class record (8,076 runs, average of 47.22, 22 hundreds and 34 fifties). Tiwary now heads the Jharkhand State Cricket Association. Excerpts from an interview he gave The Hindu at Jamshedpur:
What made you take up cricket administration?
Some members of the JSCA approached me and said that I should fight the election. I said, ‘Okay, I will fight.’
You won the election quite comfortably.
Yes, and I am grateful to all the members who have supported me. I decided to contest because I wanted to do something for the players. And as a player, I know what they need. When you have played cricket for 24 years, you know that. I have been trying to help the Jharkhand players since I took over as the JSCA secretary last year.
I believe a cricket association is there because of cricketers, and not the other way around. I ensure our players are given all the opportunities. Since facilities are less in Jharkhand, our players, male or female, are free to use the Ranchi stadium whenever they want.
I have won the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but never the Ranji Trophy or the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I want Jharkhand to win those tournaments. People often ask — What is the difference between a sportsperson and an administrator? The only difference is that a player can understand their emotions, because he has gone through that experience.
One of our players, Rajandeep Singh, is not fit, but he has been coming to our Ranchi stadium for the last three months. We have never abandoned any of the players who are injured. We have given them treatment.
Higher calling: Tiwary says he entered cricket administration ‘because I wanted to do something for the players. And as a player, I know what they need’.
| Photo Credit:
Photo credit: P.K. Ajith Kumar
So you would like more former cricketers to come into administration?
I think that when any player who has played for his State comes into administration, he will know how he can help his team develop.
In your time, there weren’t many hard-hitting batters like you.
Hitting hard came naturally to me. I liked to bat that way. But if I were to play today, I wouldn’t be in the top 100. Every second batsman is hitting so well. Even a 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is dominating in the IPL. We didn’t have that much T20 cricket back then. Then scores like 140 or 150 used to be defended. Now even 250 cannot be defended. Power-hitting has taken over.
Do you see any change in technique?
It is all the mindset. People have played so much T20 cricket, they know they can come back into a match. Sometimes I see the score in an IPL match after 10 overs is 70 for five. If you switch off the TV and move a little here and there, and you turn the TV on again, you will see the score is 210 for seven.
Today’s cricket has almost become a game of power-hitting. They hit continuously and do not get tired. In ODIs, you see teams chasing down scores like 370. And batters are hitting double hundreds inside 43 overs. Today’s boys are all very strong. The kind of training they do at gyms is also a factor. If you want to become strong, then you have to do weight-training.
You played for more than a decade in the IPL right from its inaugural edition in 2008. How much has it changed over the years?
Now it is very difficult to predict which team would be good. Earlier, every year one or two new players would emerge from the IPL. Now I think every year two or three players emerge from a team. Now India has such good bench strength because of the IPL. If you perform well there, you are in the limelight. You can play for India.
If you play for five or six years in the IPL, you have financial security. Your life becomes better.
There are a lot of players who have not played for India, but you still know their names. The IPL is the reason for that. When I started playing in the IPL, I did not imagine it would become this big. The full credit goes to the BCCI.
You were the emerging player of 2010. You scored an unbeaten 52 off 31 balls to help Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (as it was known then) in the semifinal.
I also remember playing a crucial innings [38 not out] against RCB in the Champions League T20 in South Africa that year. There are some memories that you have in cricket for a lifetime. One of them is batting with Sachin Tendulkar. It was my dream to play with him.
You were part of an Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Your teammates included Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Abhinav Mukund…
Winning that World Cup was a dream come true for me. If you win anything for India, it is a big achievement. All those things, and memories … they will be with you as long as you live. It was fun. If you look at the whole batch, many players went on to play for India [the senior team].
Domestic grind: Tiwary enjoyed success at the First Class level for Jharkhand and wants his team to win the Ranji Trophy.
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Ritu Raj Konwar
Did you imagine at the time that Kohli would develop into the cricketer and the leader he became?
I am not at all surprised. He played with the kind of hunger that we still see today. He plays his cricket with so much passion and honesty. As for his leadership quality, it was the first time that he became the captain. But there was no doubt about his dedication and focus.
How do you look back at the final against South Africa?
Please don’t remind me of it. I got run out. I will never forget that. But overall, that World Cup was a very good experience.
Your international career didn’t last long…
When I was playing, it was already a packed Indian team. I remember I used to come to the team when someone got injured. It was very difficult to get into the team. But at the same time, I didn’t perform that well. And I didn’t perform that well in the IPL after 2010. But I have no regrets. Cricket has given me everything. Sometimes I even wonder if I deserve all this. Everything is cricket for me. Today, I am talking to you because of cricket.
Published – October 24, 2026 06:30 am IST
