The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has turned down Sanjay Manjrekar’s request of reinstating him in the commentary panel for IPL 2020.
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According to a Mumbai Mirror report, BCCI has approached the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Harsha Bhogle and those from overseas via mail for commentary duties in the 13th edition of IPL, slated to be held in UAE from September 19 to November 10.
Report also claims that no such mail was sent to Manjrekar, reaffirming that the board has closed the door on his return to commentary. However, the final call lies in the hands of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
It was only last week that Manjrekar requested the BCCI to consider him in the commentary team for the upcoming IPL.
Manjrekar, who has been part of broadcasting for a long time, was sacked from the commentary panel before the India-South Africa series in March this year.
With the IPL set to begin next month, the former Mumbai batsman wrote that he will ‘stick to the guidelines laid out’ by the BCCI.
"Respected members of the Apex Council, hope you all keeping well. You are already in receipt of the email I sent to explain my position as a commentator. With the IPL dates announced, bcci.tv will pick its commentary panel soon. I will be happy to work as per the guidelines laid by you. After all, we are working on what is essentially your production. Last time maybe there was not enough clarity on this issue. Thanks very much, Regards," Manjrekar wrote in the email, a copy of which was leaked.
As per reports, Sanjay Manjrekar's comments on India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja went against him. During the 2019 World Cup in England, he had grabbed the headlines by calling Jadeja a “bits and pieces” cricketer.
Reacting to his comments, Jadeja posted a tweet, asking Manjrekar to respect the achievement of people.
Once the Jadeja controversy cooled down, Manjrekar got involved in an on-air spat with Harsha Bhogle during India’s first ever Day-Night Test against Bangladesh in October. The argument was about the visibility of the new pink-ball. As per Harsha, to get a better idea of whether the ball is clearly visible or not, commentators should ask the players about it. On which, Manjrekar said they can observe it from here. He also took a jibe at Harsha who hasn't played top-level cricket and said they have experience of 15 years of domestic cricket and don't need to go out and ask the players.
