BCCI excludes Sanjay Manjrekar from list of commentators selected for IPL

Former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has been excluded from the list of commentators chosen by the BCCI for the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting later this month.

Manjrekar, who had been a key part of the IPL commentary panel for several years, was sacked earlier this year in March by the BCCI. He was heavily criticized for a snide remark about Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja during the World Cup.

He got himself into another controversy when he questioned fellow commentator Harsha Bhogle's cricketing credentials on air during the pink-ball Test. Bhogle has no experience of playing first-class cricket.

Manjrekar wrote to the BCCI last month, where he apologized for his actions and sought to be reinstated as commentator-cum-analyst:

“You are already in receipt of the email I sent to explain my position as 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,” he wrote.

"The player concerned obviously misunderstood this or was perhaps misinformed. By the way, the player and I have since privately made peace over this issue.”

Sanjay Manjrekar still in BCCI's bad books

However, BCCI have certainly not got over the incident as they’ve omitted Sanjay Manjrekar from the panel for the upcoming IPL.

The seven chosen commentators are: Sunil Gavaskar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle, and Anjum Chopra.

The IPL is set to commence from the 18th of September and will be played in the United Arab Emirates this year.