How former warhorses Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem fixed the chinks in Jharkhand’s armour

PUNE: When Jharkhand players were deservingly celebrating with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the MCA Stadium in Gahunje, two former India players looked at the frenzy from the sidelines.

Saurabh Tiwary and Shahbaz Nadeem reluctantly joined the team for a picture with the trophy only upon skipper Ishan Kishan and his teammates’ insistence. It was 15 years ago, in 2011, when Jharkhand lifted a BCCI trophy when Tiwary’s team defeated a strong Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat by 159 runs in the Vijay Hazare final. The star of that match was Nadeem by taking four wickets in four overs in exchange for only six runs. He was deservedly declared player of the match.

The duo is still doing their job of making their team win, albeit, in different capacities.

The former players have now turned into full-time administrators, with Tiwary taking the Jharkhand Cricket Association’s secretary’s position and Nadeem managing the joint-secretary's role. “This trophy means a lot for us as it has come after a long time. I feel the credit goes to the players, the support staff for making this happen,” a visibly overwhelmed Tiwary said.

“Hopefully, in the coming days, we will play many more finals in various formats,” he added. Nadeem said though the association was on the right track, significant changes have been made in the overall working and results will follow. “It isn't that Jharkhand didn’t reach the finals of important tournaments be fore. But there were some areas that nee ded improvement. I would say, we were 80 per cent there, but at this level, even 20 per cent matters a lot.

Our aim is to work on that 20 per cent,” the former India left arm spinner said. “The team did not depend on any individual. Everybody played their part. We played as a strong team,” he added. He said the experience of their playing days helped them plan things better. “During our playing days, we found some things, facilities, lacking for players. We tried to fill in the gaps and will lo ok for more holes to fill,” he added. “I feel we have emphasized a lot on players’ freedom to express themselves in the matches. As far as the changes in the association are concerned, I feel the inclusion of multi-day formats in the age-group cricket has been vital. Earlier we had limited overs matches only, but we took this decision to start days cricket and I feel it was needed,” Nadeem said. When it is Jharkhand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni can’t be far from discussion. Nadeem said the former India skipper played an important role in boosting the team's morale and also gave suggestions to the association. “Before the season, when we were selecting the coaches, the support staff and selectors, MS bhai’s involvement was there. Be it women’s cricket, age group teams, he gave his inputs for each team,” Nadeem said.