The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finalised seven commentators for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. However, they have snubbed prominent commentator Sanjay Manjrekar from the panel for IPL 2020.

The seven commentators picked for the world-feed broadcast are Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle and Anjum Chopra, according to Mumbai Mirror.

Manjrekar snubbed from IPL 2020 commentary panel

Kartik and Dasgupta will be in the panel for Abu Dhabi games while the rest will be for matches in Dubai and Sharjah. Meanwhile, Dubai and Abu Dhabi will host 21 games each with Sharjah getting 14 games of the league stage. However, BCCI is yet to finalise the venues for the playoffs.

Sanjay Manjrekar’s snub didn’t come as a surprise after BCCI removed him from their panel earlier this year. Incidentally, the former cricketer has fallen off the radar for his controversial statement. Last month, Manjrekar had requested BCCI take him back as a commentator for the upcoming IPL but it has not worked.

Meanwhile, BCCI has decided to divide the commentators into three groups. They will be in bio-secure bubbles – one in Dubai and the other in Sharjah. The commentators will leave for UAE on September 10.

Deep Dasgupta and Murali Kartik were slated to depart on Friday. However, with Abu Dhabi government relaxing quarantine rules from 14 to seven day, they can travel with the other commentators.

IPL 2020 will commence from September 19 in the UAE. BCCI had to mover the tournament out of India owing to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country. The final of IPL 2020 will take place on November 10. Incidentally, this is the first time the grand finale of the competition will take place on a weekday.