Sanjay Manjrekar axed from BCCI commentary panel; IPL 2020 sack also likely
Commentator and former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has been axed from the BCCI's commentary panel after the board was reportedly unhappy with his work and comments. Being a familiar face in the commentary box for the past two home seasons for India, Manjrekar was not present for the first ODI at Dharamshala while others from the panel, like Murali Karthik, Sunil Gavaskar, etc., were present at the venue despite the washout.
“Maybe he will be left out from the IPL panel too. At this stage, it is not on top of our minds. But the fact is they are not happy with his work,” a source was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.
Manjrekar hasn't been a fan-favorite either as his comments have often landed him in trouble and he has had banters on Twitter on a couple of occasions. Once was when he had called Ravindra Jadeja a 'bits and pieces' cricketer, only for Jadeja to go on and play a blinder of a knock in the semifinal against New Zealand, which almost won India the match.
The other moment was when Manjrekar had a heated exchange with fellow commentator Harsha Bhogle on air and questioned the veteran commentator's credibility. However, in both cases, the 54-year-old apologized for his comments after a while.