‘They stay silent’ Manoj Tiwary slams an IPL franchise for not backing local players

The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League got concluded more than a month back. The Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans, who were featured in their inaugural season, managed to get their hands on the trophy. GT defeated the Rajasthan-based franchise in the mega-final of the marquee tournament.

With the inclusion of two new franchises in Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, The league was featuring 10 teams after multiple years. The entire tournament took across four venues in Mumbai without any difficulties. It was indeed a long and sound season, unlike the 2021 edition.

The marquee league sold its media rights a few days back for the record-breaking amount of INR 48,390 CR. Star Sports retained rights for the television, while Viacom snatched the media rights to stream the game online (digital rights). The development made IPL, the second biggest sporting league in terms of brand value.

Manoj Tiwary slams Kolkata Knight Riders:

Meanwhile, The Bengal cricketer and sports minister Manoj Tiwary has lashed out at Kolkata Knight Riders during a recent interaction with Sports Tak. The right-hand batter accused the franchise of not backing the local players. He raised several questions about the management for the same.

Tiwary went on to confess that he will bring up the topic in his next meeting with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He is set to ask the honorable chief minister to speak to Shah Rukh Khan (who is the owner of the KKR) about the same.

Here’s what Manoj Tiwary said:

“Certainly I would like to see a change. I always say that there should be a lot of players (from Bengal in KKR). So my only question is that if Bengal players can play for those other teams regularly in the playing eleven, why can’t they play here. So that question mark is always there on the management. They never talk openly also.”

“They stay silent, and this question mark always remains on them, Fans will always support their team but when they see that there is a local player in the squad. I will ask our honorable chief minister Mamata Banerjee to speak with Shahrukh Khan. He is West Bengal’s brand ambassador. We’ll see what happens after that,”