By Megha Mallick,News18

Copyright news18

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has revealed that there were days when hookah was consumed within the Indian cricket team and cricketers close to former India captain MS Dhoni used to be present within the room, following up on Irfan Pathan’s earlier claims.
Multiple other former players, including Yograj Singh, have made strong remarks regarding the allegations, suggesting that favouritism was a recurring problem during Dhoni’s tenure as skipper.
Tiwary backed the ongoing claims and added that the cricketers knew that siding with the skipper in such activities would help their case in terms of cementing their place in the playing XI in the long run.
“We have seen from close quarters. There were sessions where Hookah was taken and players who were closer to the captain were present in the room. Players were very smart enough to make sure that some buttering was done to get help from the captain if required,” Tiwary said while speaking to InsideSport.
The former Indian cricketer played just 12 ODIs and three T20Is in his illustrious career despite his brilliant first-class and List A record.
Tiwary scored a century in just his sixth ODI appearance, but was dropped from the team soon after.
“It wasn’t compulsory for anyone to be there and only the players who knew that the room was open for Hookah, those are the players who used to go. The players were smart enough to know who was within close quarters with the captain at that point in time,” Tiwary said.
“Slowly, slowly, when the discussions come out of the room the following day, then only the others get to know. It wasn’t restricted; it was open, but it wasn’t something that was open for everyone; it wasn’t as if cards were sent to everyone,” Tiwary added.
Dhoni still remains a crucial figure in Indian cricket despite his retirement from international cricket five years ago.