Sanjay Manjrekar reacts to being dropped from the BCCI commentary panel

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has reacted to being dropped from the commentary panel of BCCI. Despite being a regular feature in the commentary box during India’s home matches for a long time now, the 54-year-old is most likely to be left out for the upcoming edition of the IPL which was initially slated to kick-off on March 29th. However, due to the rising coronavirus concerns, the Indian cricket board has postponed 2020 IPL till April 15th. For the past few days, there were speculations over his status as a commentator and it was being reported that the board was not happy with his work.

The renowned commentator was reportedly not present in Dharamsala during the first ODI between India and South Africa, which was washed out without a ball being bowled on Thursday. Manjrekar was severely criticised for calling Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as a 'bits and pieces cricketer' during 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

In yet another incident, he got into a heated discussion on-air with co-commentator Harsha Bhogle regarding the visibility of the pink ball during the third day of India's first-ever day-night Test match played at the Eden Gardens and even questioned the latter’s game knowledge and credibility since he hasn’t played at the highest level. Manjrekar, who apologised on both occasions, accepted that he was 'unprofessional and wrong' and the year 2019 was 'the worst year as a commentator' for him.

On Saturday (March 14th), the Chennai Super Kings took a cheeky dig on Sanjay Manjrekar for his controversial statement on Ravindra Jadeja who will be turning out for the Men in Yellow in 2020 IPL. Jadeja joined CSK ahead of 2012 IPL and has been one of the vital cogs for the three-time IPL winners given his all-round credentials. Here is CSK's tweet: