I want to take the complete blame, says Manoj Tiwary following RPS's floundered run chase

I was the man who was on strike and was not able to connect: Manoj Tiwary.

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Manoj Tiwari of Rising Pune Supergiants
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Manoj Tiwari of Rising Pune Supergiant. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)

Rising Pune Supergiant middle-order batsman Manoj Tiwary took full responsibility for having blundered a seemingly simple run chase. Despite a 45-ball 60, Tiwary was unable to carry his team over the finish line against the Delhi Daredevils. The Supergiant thus had to wait for a spot in the playoffs.

Chasing 169, RPS lost both their openers early on in the innings. Ajinkya Rahane was cleaned up by a Zaheer special, while Rahul Tripathi couldn’t bring his fireworks to the stage in a crucial game. Skipper Steve Smith and Manoj Tiwary then steadied the ship for the Supergiant. At one stage, RPS required 52 from the final 5 overs with 7 wickets still in hand. Smith’s boys would have fancied a win at that stage with the explosive Ben Stokes and Tiwary still at the crease. Nevertheless, the pressure, along with the asking-rate, kept rising, eventually leaving the Supergiant 7 runs short of a win.

Tiwary being the set batsman, wanted to take the blame for failing to see his side home. “I want to take the complete blame for that because I was the batsman who was set over there. And prior to the last over we couldn’t get any boundaries at that point of time and I was the man who was on strike and was not able to connect. Obviously, the match was in our hands at one point of time, that’s the way it happens at times,” he said after the game.

Had Pune scaled the target of 169, they would have assured a spot in the playoffs in their final season in the IPL. However, they’ll now have to depend on the result of the Sunrisers Hyderabad versus Gujarat Lions game. Moreover, their last game against the Kings XI Punjab, who are also vying for a playoff berth, will be a virtual quarter-final.

“We tried our best but we have to go back now and see what went wrong and how the batsmen could have scored more runs, find out what kind of strokes we could have played at that situation and come back harder in the next game. It’s going to be a pressure game because both the teams want to win and let’s see who comes best in that game,” Tiwary said.

The Bengal lad also pointed out the slowness of the Kotla wicket, which prodded the Daredevils to play Shahbaz Nadeem. “The wicket was bit slow. It was gripping a bit for the spinners. And I think that was their plan because they played one extra spinner in this game,” he remarked.

“Nadeem played and he bowled well and that was their plan, obviously we know the nature of Delhi wicket, it keeps low. And today it was gripping but going back to the last game, we didn’t see any kind of spin here, it was a drastic change in the nature of the wicket. I’m also a firm believer of batting first because on such kind of wickets, if you score big runs, then there is a lot of pressure to chase,” he added.

Dhoni’s wicket was perhaps the game-changing moment, following which the Delhi Daredevils sniffed a victory. MSD departed for 5, leaving the set Manoj Tiwary to do all the hard work. Dhoni was run out courtesy of a direct throw by Mohammad Shami, who caught MS an inch short of his crease. “He couldn’t see the ball where it went and that’s the reason he couldn’t make it because ball went behind so he wasn’t aware where the ball went but it happens, the quickest of persons also get run out and today was an example,” Tiwary pointed out.

“It’s very rare, but yes, when things don’t go your way, then this happens. But you must give credit to Shami as well because he took that risk of throwing and taking that chance because if that ball wouldn’t have hit the stumps (then) it would have been one extra more run,” he added.

When asked about MS Dhoni’s future prospects in the game, the 31-year-old clearly said that he still had a lot left to offer to cricket. “Dhoni still has a lot of time left And, more importantly, if he is doing so well in the present then why overthink. Obviously, in terms of runs, we should consider that he comes to bat down the order. In T20 cricket we only want the strike rate to be, say, over 120. But Mahi bhai has done so well in the past and set such high standards that we feel that he should still be batting with the same strike rate of 130-160. But is practically not possible.”

Moreover, Tiwary wasn’t too pleased to see Dhoni being judged entirely on the basis of his performances in this IPL. he emphasised on analysing how a player helps his side win, rather than focusing solely on his strike rate. “You need to look at the circumstances too,” he said. “He struck a good partnership with Ben Stokes in a game where Stokes hit a hundred. That game, if you see, what we needed most was a partnership and we got that partnership from the expereinced player.”

“Mahi bhai had that experience and he built that partnership. His strike rate might not have been that good but won us the game, so that is a match-winning innings, right? I always feel performances should be judged taking into account the situation of the game and then see what he is contributing to the game. That is more important, rather than the strike rate of the player. Obviously, the format is so fast that everybody wants to see sixes and fours and strike rates of 150 but it is not possible all the time. I feel he still has a lot of game left in him,” Tiwary concluded.

It will be do-or-die for the Rising Pune Supergiant, who take on the Kings XI Punjab at the MCA Stadium for one final time. A win will suffice for RPS and keep them in the top four, but a loss could see them crashing out of the tournament.

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