IPL 2020 is all set to get underway from tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates. A few days back BCCI announced the commentary panel for IPL this year. One striking omission from the commentary team of IPL was of Sanjay Manjrekar. Over the years Manjrekar had been associated with the IPL as a commentator.
However, since his ‘bits and pieces’ remark on Ravindra Jadeja and his argument with Harsha Bhogle on air, BCCI reacted strongly against Manjrekar. The BCCI finally dropped him from the commentary board for all the home matches of India including the IPL.
Manjrekar reacts after being axed from commentary team
Interestingly after he was axed Manjrekar wrote several emails to BCCI and apologized for some of the remarks he made while commentating. Manjrekar also requested BCCI to once again reconsider their decision as he wants to be a part of the analysis panel during IPL.
However, BCCI was firm on their decision and Manjrekar will not be working during the live coverage of IPL matches. Now finally after his omission, Manjrekar has reacted after getting axed as a commentator by the BCCI. The former cricketer refused to comment on the matter and cleared that he is working with multiple media houses during the tournament.
“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 and 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 – Manjrekar
Meanwhile, Manjrekar added that his remarks on air were misinterpreted. He stated that he never meant to degrade Jadeja as a player when he called him a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer last year during the world cup. Also stated that English as a language is always criticised in the country as it not even a second language for the majority of the people.
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”.
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“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 furore”, he continued.
“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,” Manjrekar concluded.
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