After hanging his boots as a cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar started his commentary career and it would be fair to say that he has contributed more words than runs. In the commentary box, Sanjay Manjrekar is known for his bold and honest views, which also land him in trouble sometimes.
Speaking of which, who can forget his ‘bits and pieces’ remark for the talented all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja or his heated debate with Harsha Bhogle on-air, which stirred controversies and eventually led to him being dropped down from the commentary panel. Recently, Sanjay Manjrekar was not even picked by the official broadcaster Star Sports in their 90-member IPL commentary team.
Sanjay Manjrekar has finally broken his silence after getting snubbed from IPL 2020 commentary team.
In an interview with Moneycontrol, Sanjay Manjrekar was asked whether he will miss doing commentary in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, responding to which, Sanjay Manjrekar said:
“It is better I don’t comment on that. I will be working full-time with ESPNCricinfo for their pre-match and post-match shows. I am also in the final stages of discussions with a news channel and will be an in-house expert for a fantasy league platform. I will also be writing columns plus doing updates for an FM radio station,”
Further, he went on to clarify that he was misunderstood for his controversial ‘bits and pieces’ remark for Ravindra Jadeja. He said:
“We, Indians, are very sensitive to criticism. The other problem is that English as a language is often misunderstood. For most people, it is not even a second language. A lot of the terms I tend to use are misunderstood. For example, when I had said that ‘Tendulkar-related’ issues are like the elephant in the room. So, that was a term that was misunderstood.”
He added:
“People thought I was calling him a ‘white elephant’. In the case of ‘bits and pieces’, people thought it was the degradation of a player. So, if I would have said ‘non-specialist’, then I don’t think there would have had been a furor.”
He also cited Nasser Hussain’s example when he had called the Indian players as ‘donkeys on the field’, which created a controversy. He said that the English language is often misunderstood.
“Once Naseer Hussain had called some Indian players ‘donkeys on the field’, which is a normal English term for people who move slowly and there was a big controversy. So, that is one of the problems in making observations in English and assuming that everyone knows,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
