'Special' gift for Tiwary - Grand plan by sisters

Saurabh Tiwary’s sisters Nidhi (right) and Kavita at his residence in Baridih. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 8: He may have bagged trophies galore but a “special” gift is set to be unwrapped when Saurabh Tiwary returns home at the end of this month.

The star left-hander, who became the second cricketer from Jharkhand to win a Team India cap after his selection for the Asia Cup, is in for that “special” gift from his sisters — Kavita and Nidhi.

The entire Tiwary family, their relatives and friends are over the moon over Saurabh’s selection. Elder sisters Kavita and Nidhi, both of whom are married, are eagerly waiting for their star sibling, to present him with the gift. “We won’t reveal what we are going to present to Saurabh. Let it be a secret for the time being. We’ll unwrap it when he is back home from Sri Lanka,” they said in unison.

The sisters said Saurabh’s selection was a dream come true. “We were very sure about the prowess of our brother. We cannot describe our happiness in words,” said one of them.

The Jharkhand Ranji skipper’s parents — Sunil and Kanaklata — who returned to the city from Bhagalpur today, also celebrated their son’s glory by offering sweets to each other. “God has listened to our prayers. Ab hamara beta desh ke liye khelega (Now our son will play for the country),” Sunil said.

On the celebration front, Kanaklata said they would line up something after Saurabh’s return.

The big-hitter from Jharkhand, who is on his way from England, will not straightaway come home. Saurabh will stay put for some days in Chennai (for a short-duration training camp) before flying to Sri Lanka.

The selection of Saurabh, who came into the limelight after quite an impressive show for Mumbai Indians in edition 3 of the IPL, has drawn praise in the cricketing circles of Jharkhand.

“Better late than never. Saurabh deserved a lot. He came into the Indian team with sheer hard work,” said B.N. Singh, the JSCA vice-president.