More money brings more responsibility: Saurabh Tiwary

NAGPUR: He sports shoulder-length hair, loves to sleep long hours and produce fireworks when on a cricket pitch. And, like any other youngster, Saurabh Tiwary too had no clue as to how many zeroes make a crore. "I had no idea until I watched ' Band Baaja Baaraat'. There's this dialogue between the two lead actors where it is duly stressed that there are seven zeroes in a crore," he says in all innocence.
As the customary flamboyance takes over, this 21-year old batsman from Jharkhand looked back excitedly on the turn of events last week where it was confirmed that the biggest pay cheque of his career thus far is awaiting him. Royal Challengers Bangalore bid furiously for this dashing batsman at the IPL auction before eventually buying him. For someone with a base price of Rs. 46 lakh, he was bought for Rs. 7.36 crore. "I was pleasantly surprised to have got that much money. I thought I would fetch something around Rs 4 crore. Having said that, my forte is cricket, not business.
"I didn't watch the auction live since I was busy playing a T20 game. When I came to know of it, I called up my father and he told me, 'Now you have to work harder and prove your worth.' I understand more money brings more responsibility," Tiwary told TOI.
The good thing is that he doesn't look like a youngster who can fly off the handle. In fact, like his statemate MS Dhoni, his feet are truly grounded. "I play the game for the love of it. Sachin Tendulkar is my idol and I enjoyed playing under him with the Mumbai Indians. One thing I know well, if I keep my focus on the game and keep working hard, money will come automatically. But that's surely not what everyone wants to play for. For me passion for the game is more important."
Apart from his fancy for playing the big shots, Saurabh has a liking for Hindi movies. He adores former India president, APJ Abdul Kalam and Hindi film legend Amitabh Bachchan and he hopes to get an audience with them some day. Madhuri Dixit is his all time favourite and, of late, his heart beats for Katrina Kaif.
He hates partying and enjoys being cocooned with players and close friends. After making his One-Day debut for India against Australia at Vizag in October last year, he is keen to put in the hard yards and grow as a cricketer.
"I have been lucky to have had some success at a young age. But I know that I have a long way to go. I just need to practice hard, be disciplined and give my best in every game. Playing for RCB will be a big challenge for me and I am looking forward to it. I share a good comfort level with Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey (if he stays with RCB) as we were part of the victorious India Under-19 World Cup team (Kuala Lumpur, 2008). I am sure we will measure up to the expectations of our owners."