After Sanjay Manjrekar has been dropped from the commentary panel of the Indian Premier League (IPL ), as his few statements from 2019 matches were found critical and objected to controversy, he has been exed by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).
Identifying his statements over Bumrah, the authorities have made him illegible to commence ahead. However, clearing himself, he has uttered that English is such a language that phrases mean opposite to what has been spat out. To clear himself, he has used Nasser Hussain’s example as well and further added that he would not be commenting on the scenario.
The experienced commentator will now be trying his luck by writing columns, pre and post-shows for the matches covered by ESPN, and updates at FM.
Sanjay Manjrekar axed from IPL Commentary
“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’m 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,” he said while speaking to Moneycontrol.
“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.
“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.
“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,” the 55-year-old Sanjay Manjrekar added.
