5 instances when a commentator was dropped

The job of a cricket commentator is never an easy one. He is the one who has the job of describing the game to the millions of television viewers across the globe. A commentator does the arduous task of keeping the viewers glued to the television sets with their insightful as well as entertaining views on the game.

However, a commentator can sometimes become the reason of ire because of his straightforward talks and sarcastic comments. So they sometimes had to be made the scapegoats.

Recently renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle’s IPL commentary contract was terminated and he was given no reasons for his ouster. According to reports, it was Harsha’s heated exchange of words with a match official in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 that led to his expulsion.

There are other instances too when a commentator was either dropped or sacked because of several reasons. Here they are:

1. Dean Jones

Dean Jones was lambasted for his comments on Hashim Amla

The Australian batsman turned commentator was sacked by Ten Sports after he called South African batsman Hashim Amla a terrorist while commentating in a test match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. When Amla took a catch to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara, Jones was heard saying, “"the terrorist has got another wicket".

Jones, however, admitted his faux pas and said, “"It was a silly and completely insensitive thing to say and, obviously, it was never supposed to be heard over the air. I am truly sorry to have caused offence to anybody and the last thing I intended was to be disrespectful.”

The incident saw Jones losing his commentary post with the channel and it also created a huge round of controversy.

2. Fazeer Mohammed

Fazeer Mohammed was banned for his comments against the West Indies team (Source: Fox Sports)

The West Indian commentator was banned from interviewing the players during the test match series between West Indies and Australia after he severely criticized the training methods of the West Indies team.

Fazeer Mohammed, the only media figure from the Caribbean in their tour down under, had said that the West Indies team’s training lacked intensity and purpose. He was then barred from taking any interviews of the players on that tour.

It was believed that West Indies coach Phil Simmons took the call of banning Mohammed.

3. Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar was suddenly dropped from the commentary team before a series

The former Indian batsman turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar is a name to reckon with in the commentary arena. He is known to speak his mind and is an astute reader of the game too.

However, when he was dropped from the commentary team for the India-Australia bilateral series in 2013, he vented his frustration in the social media. Though later he said it was an error yet it created some amount of controversy as Star Sports refused to comment on that issue.

Manjrekar previously courted ire of the fans by making some comments against the Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. He reportedly came down heavily on Sachin for his failures at the top of the batting order. Manjrekar surely created a lot of controversy with his straightforward comments.

4. Mark Nicholas

Mark Nicholas was abruptly dropped from the Channel 9 commentary team in 2005

The renowned commentator was removed from the Channel Nine’s commentary team for the Australian summer in 2005. Channel Nine took the decision to leave Nicholas out from a "pretty full" commentary box as they were getting ready for the Test series against West Indies and South Africa, as well as the one-day tri-series.

“We just felt we've got a pretty full commentary roster," Graeme Koos, the executive producer of Nine's cricket coverage. He also added, “and to bring Mark in meant someone else gets pushed out and that's a difficult thing. Still, these things can change."

Mark Nicholas is a known name in the commentary field and his style of commentary is quite famous.

5. Navjot Singh Sidhu

The former Indian cricketer has often been criticized for his garrulous speeches

The loquacious Navjot Singh Sidhu has often been criticized for going a little overboard while commentating. His one-liners, array of proverbs may have won him fans but he is often lambasted for speaking too much.

Sidhu was banned by his then employers ESPN-Star for swearing on air. However, ESPN-Star denied that. He was again banned by ICC from commentating in the matches featuring Bangladesh due to some harsh comments made against the Bangladesh team. He is someone who likes his words very much and he is often see uttering them with no pause at all.

Sidhu also earned criticism from the Indian cricketers in the past for his derogatory comments. He courted a lot of controversy in the 2003 cricket world cup when he made some comments against certain Indian team players at that time.