Manoj Tiwary first sitting MLA to slam Ranji Trophy century? Twitter is in awe of Bengal batter

Bengal's Manoj Tiwary scored a century against Jharkhand in the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy 2022 on Friday. This is Tiwary's 28th century in first-class cricket. The talisman celebrated the century with a thigh-five. Tiwary's innings of 136 on the inconsequential fifth day was a big positive for Bengal ahead of their semifinal. Tiwary, who is also a minister in the West Bengal government, had also scored 73 in the first innings. Apart from him, there were valuable contributions from other Bengal batters such as Shahbaz Ahmed (46), Anustup Majumdar (38) and Abhishek Porel (34). With this Bengal managed to draw the match and qualify for the semifinals. 

A Twitter user claimed that Tiwary is the first sitting MLA from the country to score a century in the Ranji Trophy. Here are some Twitter reactions to Manoj Tiwary's century. 

up for Manoj Tiwary as Bengal move closer to 240 in the second innings. #RanjiTrophy | #QF1 | #BENvJHA | @Paytm

Follow the match https://t.co/UDFkFRkMjB pic.twitter.com/L65QSkUgu8

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 10, 2022

No cricket database has a field for political careers, but I will be surprised if an *active* minister has scored two fifties in a First-class match before Manoj Tiwary.

*Former* cricketers sometimes become politicians, I know. This man still scores runs. — Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) June 10, 2022

Manoj Tiwary 84 not out. I think this is the highest first class score in India by an MLA who is also a minister — Atreyo Mukhopadhyay (@atreyom) June 10, 2022

manoj tiwary has made a century in the ranji quarterfinal. a bit of a blow to those who say politicians shouldn't get involved in sports. #RanjiTrophy — Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) June 10, 2022

Is Manoj Tiwary the first sitting MLA to score a first class century? I think the quiz master @derekobrienmp would be able to throw some info on this!! @tiwarymanoj pic.twitter.com/Ta7p3kRa7x

— Truth of West Bengal (@Truth_of_WB) June 10, 2022

100 for Manoj Tiwary - his 28th in FC cricket. Does a Dhawan-like "thigh-five" celebration after reaching the milestone. His last triple-digit score was an unbeaten 303 against Hyderabad in the 2019-20 season. #RanjiTrophy — Dhruva Prasad (@DhruvaPrasad9) June 10, 2022

Tiwary was included in the Bengal's squad for the Ranji Trophy before the tournament was rescheduled. He was also part of Bengal's Ranji Trophy team which played the final against Saurashtra in 2020. Tiwary made comeback into competitive cricket with Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. He has represented India in 12 ODIs and 3 T20Is. Tiwary played his last international game way back in 2015.