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Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Can you identify this Sports Minister of West Bengal ?

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Kiren Rijiju is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, who is in the capacity of Minister of State (Independent Charge).  Do you know who is the present Sports Minister of our State ?

Ashley Noffke bounced into a Cricket Australia contract and on to an Ashes tour in 2001 but life was not as good .. ..  In his  first international act  turned out to be run-out without facing a ball against New Zealand, he debuted in an ODI against India in Feb 2008 bowled fast but sprayed all over ending up 1 for 46 in front of his home supporters at the Gabba, when Indians were bowled out for 194! – he may not be following but would be surprised to know about the victory of his co-debutant, who is the subject matter of this post.

Shibpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) is an assembly constituency in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.  Howrah  is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata.  Howrah is an important transportation hub and gateway to Kolkata and West Bengal.  In the recent elections – this man secured 92048 votes beating his BJP opponent who got 59574 votes – the candidate representing Cong / Communist alliance secured a poor 24817.

The victor if you have guessed aright is a Cricketer – who debuted in that One dayer at Brisbane in Commonwealth Bank Series on Feb 3, 2008. India were bowled out for 194 and Australia were 51/3 in 7.2 overs chasing a reduced target of 141 in 26 overs and play abandoned.



On 22.2 Brett Lee bowling fast landed a lovely Yorker to a leaden-footed Tiwary and disturbed the stumps, he had rattled him with pace and couple of bouncers. Manoj Tiwary on his debut scored just 2 and Indians were 94/5 at that moment. A good aggressive stroke maker, he scored many runs in Ranji   2006-07  and was all set to make his debut at Mirpur – but he injured his shoulder severely during fielding practice. When the debut finally arrived in early 2008, he was jetlagged and in Brisbane, completely out of league against a searing Brett Lee.    He had to wait for 3 long years for his next match – was pushed to open – then in Dec 2011 at Chepauk against West Indies played a good innings scoring his maiden century and winning the Man of the Match.

He ended up playing only 12 ODIs and three T20Is for the ‘Men in Blue’, and has not been in national reckoning since 2015. Despite being snubbed at the IPL 2020, the batter maintained that he does not consider himself out of the race just yet. Unselected at the IPL 2021 as well, the former Indian batsman turned politician joined TMC and was their candidate from Shibpur, winning the seat by a considerable margin.   He has been sworn-in as Minster of State for Youth Services and Sports under Mr. Aroop Biswas.

Another Indian Indian cricketer   Ashoke Dinda, who contested the West Bengal Assembly polls from the Moyna seat representing BJP  won the election with a slender margin of 1260 votes. He defeated Trinamool Congress' candidate Sangram Kumar Dolai-- who won   2016 Assembly elections with more than 12 thousand votes.  While Ashoke Dinda secured 108109; TMC 106849, Congress secured a sub-par 5108!! 



In the present TN Govt 2021 -  Mr Siva. V. Meyyanathan from Alangudi is the Minister for Environment - Climate Change and Youth Welfare and Sports Development. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
17.5.2021. 

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