Tiwary leaps into big league in quick time

Mumbai, June 8 -- Monday will surely be an unforgettable day for Saurabh Tiwary. Not because he took the field at Headingley to replace injured Sudeep Tyagi during India-A's tour opener against Yorkshire, but because of his maiden call-up in the India team.
Tiwary, the Jharkhand southpaw, didn't have much to do except watch his India-A teammates pile on the runs against Yorkshire on the first two days of the 3-day tie. But it all changed on Monday.
To begin with, he had to replace injured Tyagi on the field at the start of the day. A little later, he saw Tyagi shouting to congratulate him for his selection in India's squad for the Asia Cup, to be played in Sri Lanka from June 15.
"It is a morale-booster for the whole team," India-A coach Pravin Amre told Hindustan Times on Monday. "Everyone is very happy for Saurabh. He really deserves it."
Ever since returning from Malaysia as member of India's triumphant Under-19 World Cup squad in 2008, Tiwary has been consistently improving as a batsman. Known for his power-hitter just like his idol Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the 20-year-old showed in the third edition of the Indian Premier League that he had indeed learnt the art of building an innings at a young age.
Hailing from Dhoni's state and sporting a similar hairdo that the India skipper had when he broke into the Indian team, Tiwary had to do something special to emerge from Dhoni's shadow. Riding on the back of a fruitful domestic season, Tiwary excelled for Mumbai Indians in IPL-III, emerging as the highest uncapped run-getter in the tournament.