His mellifluous voice is common in the commentary box or the presentation ceremonies. But not many are familiar that the right-handed batsman from Mumbai has a music album to his name. Born on 12th July 1965 to the celebrated Vijay Manjrekar, Sanjay was known for his astute batting technique.
Early days
Sanjay’s cricketing days starting young, representing both his school and college before making his debut for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy on 7th March, 1985. He scored a steady 57 in this innings, securing a place for himself in the next match as well.
His maiden first class century came in the following season in a match against Baroda. However, he came into limelight after scoring a brilliant double century for West Zone in the 1987 edition of the Ranji Trophy.
Debut
Manjrekar made his Test debut against West Indies in 1987 at the age of 22, with India winning the Test. His performance was below par with scores of 5 and 10 in first and second innings respectively.
Manjrekar made his ODI debut in 1988 against the same opposition, scoring 19 off 19 balls while remaining not out. The first international century came out of his bat in a Test match in 1989 against the fearsome West Indies bowling attack.
Rise to Glory
Manjrekar’s high point in his career was the Test series against India’s arch rivals, Pakistan in 1989. He scored blazing centuries in both the innings of the second match, carrying India towards a respectable draw.
He went on to knock a magnificent double century in the last match, helping India draw the series. With these phenomenal performances, Sanjay secured his seat in the national side.
He churned out runs in first class cricket as well. In the Ranji semi-finals against Hyderabad in 1991, Manjrekar scored a record 377 taking Mumbai’s total to a whopping 855.
Low Points
Scoring the fourth slowest ton in Test cricket against Zimbabwe in 1992 marked the decline for Manjrekar. This was the fourth and last century to come out of his bat.
After this, he struggled with form and injuries and performed poorly with the bat. With the appearance of new players like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, Manjrekar saw himself being more often on the bench than on the field.
Retirement
Sanjay Manjrekar made his final appearance as a cricketer in a Test match against South Africa in 1996, at the age of 31. Stats show that he averaged a brilliant 55.14 in first class cricket and 37.14 in Test cricket.
