Sanjay Manjrekar clears the air on his spat with Harsha Bhogle during the day-night Test between India and Bangladesh

What’s the story?

Sanjay Manjrekar opened up on his spat with Harsha Bhogle when the pair was on air during India’s day-night Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens. The former cricketer said that he had lost control at that juncture and that it was wrong of him to have said such distasteful things.

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The two commentators engaged in a heated discussion when opining about the visibility of the pink ball during the 2nd Test between India and Bangladesh, which, incidentally, was the first day-night Test taking place in the subcontinent.

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The heart of the matter

On the 30th of December, Manjrekar attempted to clarify what had unfolded in the commentary box and stated that he knew he had committed a mistake following which he immediately apologized to the producers.

With that particular comment, it was me losing control and I was unprofessional, I was wrong. It is something that I regret, it was wrong of me so that is what really bothers me that I let my emotions get the better of me. So mostly being unprofessional and to an extent indecent as well. First thing that I did was apologise to the producers because I was wrong.

Furthermore, he cleared his stance on non-cricket-playing commentators, stating:

People who have read my book know that I have actually made plea for production companies to have good commentators, doesn't matter whether they have played cricket or not.

What’s next?

Several cricket enthusiasts were taken aback by Manjrekar’s comments at the time, although it wasn't the first time the former cricketer had landed himself in hot water in 2019.

He will certainly hope that the fraternity’s rage would have cooled to an extent, especially after his recent apology.