Sanjay Manjrekar Reckons Players Should Treat Commentators As Garnish
Published - 18 May 2020, 05:49 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:28 AM
Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, has reckoned that players are very sensitive and that is the reason why they are not able to take criticism from them.
Manjrekar, a veteran commentator, is renowned for his blunt comments which has sometimes landed him in trouble. The former Indian cricketer landed into controversy for his ‘bits and pieces’ remarks against all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
The remarks did not go down with Jadeja, who took to Twitter where he asked Manjrekar to spare him of his ‘verbal diarrhea’. But Manjrekar being a former cricketer himself knows the psychology of a player and in an Instagram Live session with ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, the former batsman revealed how he himself used to get worked when someone like Dilip Vengsarkar used to be critical of him in his columns.
“Players are sensitive. I used to be sensitive. When Dilip Vengsarkar criticized me in his column, I slipped a note under his door, trying to counter all his observations. So I don’t hold it against players when they react,” Sanjay Manjrekar told Ravichandran Ashwin.
Manjrekar added: “When Sachin Tendulkar reacted to a column I had written as well, I kept quiet.”
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‘I don’t have an agenda against any player”- Sanjay Manjrekar to Ravichandran Ashwin
Manjrekar went on to say that players must look at commentators as a garnish; as someone who is ‘unimportant’ and should focus on their performances.
“The best way for players to deal with people like us is to look at us as garnish. We are unimportant. They are the players, their performances are all that matter. Nobody is going to be dropped because Manjrekar said so,” Manjrekar said.
Ashwin went on to question Manjrekar: “Is there a possibility that you sometimes see cricketers with a critical eye because of what you expected of yourself as a cricketer and you now want to be the Sachin Tendulkar of broadcasting?.”
In reply, the former Mumbai and India cricketer said that he does not have my sort of agenda against any player that he criticizes and that he knows his limits which is perhaps the reason why he is still in the commentary business.
“If I did something wrong, it’s because I tried too hard. I try to stay true, there is no agenda (against any player). I know my boundaries. That’s why I’m still around. Otherwise I would have been finished as a commentator five years ago,” Sanjay Manjrekar clarified.
Sanjay Manjrekar further added that Indian fans love their cricketers so much that they do not want anyone to be slightly critical of them.
Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin Recalls The 2010 IPL Ordeal When He Was Dropped From The CSK Squad
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