MUMBAI : Sanjay Manjrekar has been dropped by BCCI from its panel of commentators, with the board said to be unhappy with his work on the back of a season in which he came in for a lot of criticism for his comments behind the mic.
Manjrekar, a former Test batsman and a pundit prominent in India, has been a regular in the commentary box for the last two decades, but could now see himself being removed from BCCI duties, comprising India home series as well as the Indian Premier League.
BCCI or Sanjay Manjrekar is yet to react to the development in public, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was asked about the board’s decision on Saturday.
According to reports, the BCCI recently dropped former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar from its commentary panel. During the first washed-out ‘Ind vs SA’ ODI affair in Dharamsala, Sanjay Manjrekar was not present at the venue while the other commentators from BCCI’s panel like Sunil Gavaskar and Murali Kartik were present.
However, the BCCI President refused to comment on the revocation of Sanjay Majrekar from the BCCI/IPL commentary team. Speaking to a news daily, Ganguly said that we should not jump to any conclusion just because the commentator was not part of one series.
“Yes, he wasn’t a part of the panel for this series, but it doesn’t mean that during the next series, he won’t be there. I don’t know what exactly was the trigger,” an agency report said quoting the unnamed BCCI official.
Sanjay Manjrekar was part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) commentary panel for many major ICC events ever since he took up the commentary gig post his retirement in 1996. While Manjrekar is one of the most experienced commentators in the world, the former Mumbai captain has been involved in quite a few controversies over the years. Meanwhile, apart from a statement, no particular reason has been released by any official stating as to why Sanjay Manjrekar was dropped.
While issuing a statement to the reporters, a BCCI source simply said that the esteemed former cricketer is excluded from its commentary panel because of the fact that BCCI are not happy with his work. It is to be noted that the BCCI is also planning to exclude Sanjay Manjrekar from the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) season panel, should the tournament go ahead with its postponed date of April 15.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India cricketer-turned commentator, took to Twitter on Sunday and shared his reaction after being removed from the BCCI commentary panel.

According to a media report earlier this week, Manjrekar was left out of the BCCI commentary panel and was not in Dharamsala for the 1st ODI between India and South Africa. The match was abandoned due to rain on Thursday while the rest of the series was called off due to coronavirus outbreak.
“I have always considered commentary as a great privilege, but never an entitlement. It is up to my employers whether they choose to have me or not & I will always respect that. Maybe BCCI has not been happy with my performance of late. I accept that as a professional,” Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted.
The report had also mentioned that Manjrekar won’t be a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 commentary panel as well. The IPL was supposed to start on March 29 but has been suspended until April 15.
In the last 12 months or so, Manjrekar was subjected to a lot of criticism on social media for his comments on Ravindra Jadeja and his argument with Harsha Bhogle. Manjrekar had tweeted that Jadeja is a “bits and pieces cricketer” during the World Cup in England.
“Still I have played twice the number of matches you have played and I’m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhea. @sanjaymanjrekar,” Jadeja had responded.
Sanjay Manjrekar, however, apologised to Jadeja after India’s semi-final loss to New Zealand at the World Cup. Manjrekar apologised to Harsha Bhogle as well and said that 2019 was his “worst year” as a commentator.
(Bureau Report with Agency Inputs ).

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