Former India cricketer and current Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary has called for the scrapping of the Ranji Trophy, India’s first-class tournament since 1934, saying several things are “going wrong” in the competition.

Tiwary, a first-class behemoth, made his debut for Bengal in 2004 and has scored over 10,000 runs in 146 games since. He also represented India in 15 international games over seven years from 2008, with one ODI hundred.

After playing for over 19 years, Tiwary announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last year before reversing his decision in less than a week, saying he wanted to give “one more try” to help Bengal win the Ranji Trophy. Bengal have reached the final twice in the last three seasons but last won the competition in 1989/90.

On Saturday (February 10), Tiwary, who also holds office as the sports minister of West Bengal, tweeted about his frustration with the Ranji Trophy, saying the edition should be scrapped from the next season and that it was “losing its charm”.

He wrote on X (formerly 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.”

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.…

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) February 10, 2024

However, Tiwary did not elaborate on the issues that have frustrated him.

Tiwary has scored 216 runs for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy in six innings with a century against Assam.

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