5 Controversial Statements Made By Sanjay Manjrekar On Cricketers

By Shaan Singh

Updated - 27 Nov 2023, 04:31 PM

5 Controversial Statements Made By Sanjay Manjrekar On Cricketers
5 Controversial Statements Made By Sanjay Manjrekar On Cricketers

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Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has often been in the news in the past few years for wrong reasons; all of them created by himself though.

The 55-year-old is an experienced commentator and analyst who has a good eye for the game. However, sometimes he makes such controversial, out-of-the-blue comments and remarks on the players which don’t go down well with them and on social media as well.

Sanjay Manjrekar, who played in 37 Tests and 74 ODIs and registered 5 international hundreds, has been a constant presence on the TV screens as a commentator, but, in the wake of the controversies he attracted, was sacked by the BCCI for the IPL last year.

5 Controversial Statements Made By Sanjay Manjrekar On Cricketers:

Ashwin not an all-time great, doesn’t have a single five-wicket haul in SENA countries

Ravichandran Ashwin Responds After Sanjay Manjrekar Says He Isn't An "All-Time Great"
Ravichandran Ashwin, Sanjay Manjrekar.

Sanjay Manjrekar’s latest escapade on social media was when he opined that off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shouldn’t be considered an all-time great because he hasn’t picked a single five-wicket haul in the SENA countries – which are South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia.

“When people start talking about him as being one of the all-time greats of the game then I have a few problems. One basic problem I have with Ashwin is that when you look at SENA countries, Ashwin doesn’t have a single five-wicket haul there,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.

Ashwin’s average of 21.89 at home is miles better than 40.11 in SENA countries; out of his 30 five-wicket hauls 24 came in India, 3 in Sri Lanka, 2 in West Indies, and 1 in Bangladesh – none in the SENA countries, a fact which Sanjay Manjrekar emphasizes on.

He received heavy flak on social media for his views; Manjrekar, though, made it clear that he was entitled to his opinions.

‘Bits and Pieces’ jibe at Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja, Sanjay Manjrekar
Ravindra Jadeja, Sanjay Manjrekar. Image-DNA

The Ravindra Jadeja-Sanjay Manjrekar tussle during the 2019 World Cup brought the former cricketer to the limelight on social media and invoked heavy trolling since. He had termed the all-rounder as a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer and that he doesn’t bring in at least one role on his own in the eleven.

“I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players which Jadeja is at this point of his career in 50-over cricket. In Test matches, he is a pure bowler. But in 50-over cricket, I would rather have a batsman and a spinner,” Manjrekar had told IANS.

Jadeja wasn’t taking any taunt from Sanjay Manjrekar. He replied with this:

Jadeja, though, wasn’t done with Sanjay Manjrekar. After he completed his spectacular fifty in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, Jadeja gestured towards the commentary box where the commentator was placed. Jadeja had displayed a brilliant all-round show in the game – 1/34 with the ball, a catch, a run-out, and a 59-ball 77-run knock – albeit in the loss.

Virat Kohli does not belong here

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli. Image-Twitter

Fans often dig out this one tweet of Sanjay Manjrekar from 9 years ago, dated Jan 6, 2012, where he says that Virat Kohli, then a young batsman trying to make it into the Test side, didn’t belong in the red-ball cricket. 

Later, Kohli would become one of the most successful Test batsmen – currently with 7490 runs at 52.37 with 27 tons – and also the India captain across formats, taking the side to number 1 Test rankings.

A couple of years ago, the cricketer-turned-commentator explained his tweet citing that Kohli had 4 low scores before he had tweeted, and it was after his tweet the right-hander scored runs in Perth and the famous Adelaide hundred.

Pollard Does Not Have Brains

Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard (Image Credit: Twitter)

In one of the games between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017, Kieron Pollard was sent up the order to bat. Sanjay Manjrekar in the commentary opined that  Pollard was not capable of playing higher up the batting order, and he said it with no subtlety.

“Pollard does not have the brains to play early in the innings,” he said.

The big West Indian was unhappy with the commentator’s remarks and blasted him on Twitter.

Hardik Pandya will not be in my team as a specialist batsman

Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya (Image Credit: Twitter)

Another one of recent clumsy judgements and calls from Sanjay Manjrekar was regarding Hardik Pandya. On the tour of Australia a few months ago, because of his back injury and fitness issues, Pandya was not allowed to bowl, and played in the side as a specialist batsman. To which Sanjay Manjrekar did not concur.

“My selection and thoughts are based on a principle that I have learned over the years: if you have specialists who can walk-in based on one discipline, you fill your team with those players. Even Hardik Pandya will not be in my team. They add illusory value to the team,” he said.

Pandya let his bat do the talking – he scored a couple of nineties in the ODI series and was Man of the Match in the T20I series for his batting alone. Sanjay Manjrekar would then go on to acknowledge his misjudgement.

Also Read: IPL 2021: 4 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Players Who Might Miss The UAE Leg Of The Tournament

Tagged:

Kieron Pollard Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Sanjay Manjrekar Virat Kohli

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