New Delhi: Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary said on Wednesday that he did not wish to get involved in the issue involving Pragyan Ojha but instead held that he has to focus on his team in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
The 31-year-old left-arm spinner played for Bengal for the last two seasons and wasn’t granted a NOC (No-Objection Certificate) by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) when he expressed willingness to return to Hyderabad, his home state.
A displeased Ojha neither joined the Bengal preparatory camp nor was accessible to the state selectors when they tried to contact him. As a matter of fact, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), who were willing to have Ojha back didn’t name him in their squad as the former India player failed to procure the required NOC.
After a training session before their opening match against Services, Tiwary, in an interaction with the PTI said, “Look, I have not had any contact with Pragyan Ojha for quite some time now. I have no updates on what he is up to. Also selection matters are not my domain. I have a bigger job in hand, to ensure that Bengal does well this time.”
When asked as to whether Ojha could have been released by the CAB to play for Hyderabad in the upcoming domestic season, the 31-year-old said, “You are asking the question to a wrong person. I am not a decision making authority. Moreover, I have the responsibility of running the team smoothly and my concern cannot be about any particular individual. There are two sides to a story and I don’t know any of the sides. So it will be very unfair on my part to make any comments.”