Who doesn’t know Sanjay Manjrekar? The ex-cricketer has been popular for his unapologetic commentary. However, his tendency to bash any cricketer backfired on him when he commented on Ravindra Jadeja.
Ravindra Jadeja is a member of the current Indian team playing in the ICC World Cup 2019. Usually, he is compelled to warm the bench, but whenever he is called out as a substitute fielder, he has worked wonders for the team. However, Sanjay Manjrekar probably ignored all of this, which is why he said the following about Ravindra Jadeja – “I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players which Jadeja is at this point of his career in 50-over cricket. In Test matches, he is a pure bowler. But in 50-over cricket, I would rather have a batsman and a spinner.”
However, unlike others, Ravindra Jadeja did not take this lying down. He slammed Sanjay Manjrekar for his negative thoughts and tweeted, “Still i have played twice the number of matches you have played and i m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea.@sanjaymanjrekar“
Still i have played twice the number of matches you have played and i m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea.@sanjaymanjrekar
— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) July 3, 2019
Ravindra Jadeja is not very far from the truth. Some may frown on his attitude on the field, but there’s no denying the fact that Ravindra Jadeja has played an important role in giving Indian cricket team unprecedented glory. Coming into prominence with his role in the Indian victory at the Under 19 World Cup in 2008.
However, Indians realized his importance only in 2013, when his bowling, as well as fielding, played an important role in India’s Champions Trophy win. He also played an important role in steering India to the finals of ICC T20 World Cup 2014 edition.
Till date, Ravindra Jadeja has played 41 tests, 151 ODIs and 40 T20Is, in which he has scored 1 century and 10 half centuries in tests, whereas he has scored 11 half centuries in ODIs. This is not all, he has also taken 192 wickets in Tests and 175 wickets in ODIs. In this scenario, all the accusations of Sanjay Manjrekar fall flat.
What about Sanjay Manjrekar? How much has he contributed to the Indian team in international cricket? Most of the fans are of the opinion that Sanjay made his debut, just because his father Vijay Manjrekar and his great grand uncle Dattaram Hindlekar were famous Test players. He only played 37 tests and 74 ODIs in which he scored 2043 and 1994 runs respectively. He scored a total of 4 centuries and 9 half centuries in tests and 1 century and 15 half centuries in ODIs, however, he was never known for making match-winning knocks. He bid goodbye to international cricket in 1996, and since then he has been making commentaries on international cricket.
If we look at and compare both of them, Ravindra Jadeja, no doubt, stands out clearly; given his contribution to the team in all forms, bowling, batting and, not to forget, fielding.
This is not the first occasion where Sanjay Manjrekar has been trolled for his excessive negativity about Indian players. Only a couple of days ago he blamed former Indian captain and wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni for India’s loss against England in the following tweet –
Here’s something interesting about Dhoni -. 41 off 87 balls v spin this WC. But in the warm up games 69 off 56 balls v spin. That tells me it’s mental too. He does not put his wicket on the line as much in the big games.#ICCCWC2019
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 2, 2019
He was trolled by the masses on identical grounds for his commentary in the 2018 edition of Indian Premier League. This was why when Ravindra Jadeja took Sanjay Manjrekar to the cleaners for his excessive negativity, people wholeheartedly backed him, and deservedly so.