India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has become the centre of attention following his heated altercation with Sri Lanka pacer Asitha Fernando on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo.
During the 17th over of India's first innings, Jaiswal hit Fernando for three boundaries but was clean-bowled on the final delivery for 45. After being dismissed, the southpaw received a fiery send-off, prompting him to walk back towards the bowler.
As they stood chest-to-chest trading words, Jaiswal's helmet made physical contact with Fernando's forehead. Teammates and on-field umpires quickly rushed in to pull the two players apart before the situation worsened.
Following match referee Andy Pycroft's assessment under Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct (dealing with inappropriate physical contact), both Jaiswal and Fernando were fined 25% of their match fees and handed one demerit point each for their roles in the clash.
However, former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar doesn’t seem to be pleased with the punishment. He believes Jaiswal was the primary aggressor while also arguing that handing out small percentage fines and lone demerit points is a soft approach that fails to deter young players from repeating hostile, physical behaviors on the field.
Taking to X, Manjrekar tagged both ICC and BCCI, and wrote: “Dear @icc & @bcci… Vaibhav for Ind A recently & now Jaiswal… if you keep letting them get away with such behaviour, you train them to repeat such behaviour. It’s not good for the sport & crucially their own future too.”
Manjrekar referenced a past incident involving 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The teenager was involved in an ugly spat with Sri Lanka A players after India A suffered a stinging Super Over defeat in a Tri-Nation A series match in Dambulla two months ago.
The tension boiled over after India A failed to chase 17 runs in the Super Over. As Sooryavanshi was walking back to the pavilion, Sri Lanka A player Vishen Halambage reportedly sledged the 15-year-old by saying, "Match over…now you go home".
This prompted Sooryavanshi to charge back, leading to a shoving match that required intervention from senior players like Niroshan Dickwella to defuse the situation.
Reacting to the episode, Manjrekar had earlier remarked that if he were the coach or manager of the India A team, he would have dropped Sooryavanshi for the subsequent match against Afghanistan A to teach him a disciplinary lesson following a physical altercation.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had received a fine of 50 percent of his match fee for the on-field breach.
