"I am a fan of Imran Khan"- Sanjay Manjrekar

Former cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar opened up and shared some of his viewpoints at the launch of his autobiography “Imperfect.” Manjrekar made his debut for the Indian team in 1987 in the longest format. He soon made it to the ODI team as well against West Indies in January 1988. Manjrekar averaged in the late 30’s in both the format.

Manjrekar’s international career only lasted nine years largely because of the emergence of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in the middle order. Manjrekar had cricket in his blood as his father Vijay Manjrekar also played 55 Tests for India. However, Sanjay said that the strongest emotion he shared with his father was fear.

Manjrekar said:

“I had no plan of including him in my book at first. But then I decided to include all those who had made an impact on me. The strongest emotion I felt when near him was fear which was common (between father and son) in those days. The way he (late Vijay Manjrekar) handled me had a lot to do about my success as a cricketer. I’m happy that both my children have nothing to do with cricket and I had allowed them to chart their own careers.” 

On his early retirement, Manjrekar added:

“I did not want to undergo the grind of playing in Ranji Trophy to regain my lost place.” 

Manjrekar also picked his all-time favorite captain:

“It’s a no-brainer. I am a fan of Imran Khan. I would have loved to play under him. Among the Indians I like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I also would have liked to play under (current captain) Virat Kohli. He’s an in-your-face leader who hates losing games and gets very upset then.”