Sanjay Manjrekar is not unknown to controversies and the ex-India cricketer has once again landed in trouble for his remarks while commentating in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup in UAE. The incident is from the India vs New Zealand encounter, which the former lost by 58 runs at the Dubai International Stadium in UAE on Friday. Manjrekar, who is part of the Hindi commentary panel, was discussing India's fielding coach Munish Bali, following which the outrage on social media sparked.
Bali's name was pointed by the co-commentator, who informed that he was a former Punjab cricketer before switching to coaching. Manjrekar, however, was not aware about Bali but it was his response, which drew backlash from fans. "Sorry, meine unko pehechana nahin. North ke players ke saath mere zyaada dhyaan nahin hota. (Sorry, I didn’t recognize him. I don't pay a lot of attention to players from the North.),” Manjrekar was heard saying while commentating.
The remark by Manjrekar led to huge outburst on social media with many fans calling out him as "racist". Here are a few reactions:
If we talk about Bali, he was the fielding coach of India U-19 before taking the role in the women's team. And if we talk about India's fielding in general in the Women's T20 World Cup encounter against New Zealand, it was below par. It started with Renuka Singh Thakur making an error in the deep, which resulted in boundary. Soon wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh failed to judge a ball and missed a dolly giving New Zealand opener Suzie Bates a second chance. There were other errors such as India missing out on a run-out opportunity after a mix-up between New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr. This was not it as New Zealand often ended up stealing doubles, which could have easily been prevented by the Indian fielders.
Meanwhile, coming back to Manjrekar he had asked the crowd at Wankhede Stadium to "behave" while conducting a toss during IPL 2024 after loud chants against Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya. This is not it. If we go back down the memory lane, Manjrekar had drawn flak from Ravindra Jadeja for calling him "bits and pieces cricketer."
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