Sanjay Manjrekar comes under fire after ‘insulting’

Sanjay Manjrekar has been criticised for his on-air comments against Harsha Bhogle, with fans asking him to publicly apologise to his fellow commentator.

Cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar and his colleague in the commentary box Harsha Bhogle were involved in an argument on Day 3 of the landmark Pink ball Test between India and Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, Sunday.

During the match, Harsha Bhogle suggested that India should do a post-mortem of India’s maiden Pink ball Test and players should be asked for their opinion on the visibility of the ball. However, Manjrekar suggested there was no issue with the visibility of the ball and he knows it because, he has played international cricket, unlike Bhogle.

“Well there is a post-mortem done on this game and there should be a post mortem on this game. Visibility of that ball will be a big factor against the big white sight-screen,” Bhogle said.

“Don’t think so. Because when you see the slip catchers the way they have taken catches, I don’t think visibility is an issue at all. The texture of the ball is the issue,” responded Manjrekar, who has played 37 Tests for India between 1987 and 1996.

“We just need to ask the players what they think,” replied Bhogle, who was the first Indian commentator to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for an overseas tour in 1992.

On this, Manjrekar took a jibe at Bhogle, saying, “You need to ask, for those who have played cricket, it’s evident it can be seen well.”

However, Bhogle was adamant in his argument and countered Manjrekar, saying, “The only reason you need to ask is, having played cricket should never be a limitation or a ceiling to learning. We would never have had T20 cricket otherwise.”

The spat came to an end with Manjrekar saying, “Point taken, don’t agree.”

Team India demolished Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs on day 3 of the Pink ball Test to sweep the two-match series 2-0 at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata. It was the second time in succession that India defeated Bangladesh inside three days after the Indore Test last week.