Sanjay Manjrekar responds to BCCI’s decision of dropping him from commentary

Sanjay-Manjrekarr

sanjay-manjrekar

The three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, which was scheduled to be held across Dharamsala, Lucknow and Kolkata, has been cancelled. It has been done amidst the rising concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus. But before that, another incident rocked the cricketing fraternity. BCCI, the cricket governing body of India, decided to drop Sanjay Manjrekar from their commentary team.

Manjrekar has been a commentator with the BCCI for a long while. Though he has often received criticism for various reasons, he had his place pretty much sealed and safe. Manjrekar was trolled mercilessly when he called Ravindra Jadeja a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer. He was also slammed by many after involving in an argument with renowned commentator and pundit, Harsha Bhogle.

Ravindra-Jadeja

While Manjrekar continued to work as a commentator after those incidents, BCCI has finally decided to drop him from the commentary team. There have been reports which suggest that he will not be seen commentating in the upcoming season of IPL as well. There have been theories on why he was sacked, ranging from his controversial commentating to his comments on social media.

But the former Indian cricketer has respected the decision taken by BCCI and has said that he accepts the decision as a professional. He has also stated that the BCCI was probably not happy with his commentating performances in the recent days.

“I have always considered commentary as a great privilege, but never an entitlement,” he said on Twitter.

“It is up to my employers whether they choose to have me or not and I will always respect that. Maybe BCCI has not been happy with my performance of late. I accept that as a professional,” the 54-year-old commentator further added.

 

An exact reason not known to many

Though there are various theories on why BCCI took such a step, the exact reason is not known yet. While many believe that his spat with Bhogle and comments about Jadeja might have been the trigger, some also believe that Manjrekar retweeting pictures of Mumbai’s anti-CAA protest might have worked against him.

Speaking to PTI, a BCCI official said “Yes, he wasn’t a part of the panel for this series but it doesn’t mean that during the next series, he won’t be there. I don’t know what exactly was the trigger.”