New Delhi: Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar faced the wrath of netizens for his controversial remark while commentating on the India vs New Zealand clash of the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Saturday. New Zealand had scored 160 and it was during the second innings when India were chasing that Manjrekar decided to take a jibe at the Women in Blue’s fielding coach Munish Bali.
Taking the mic with another commentator, Manjrekar was talking about the support staff of the India Women’s cricket team. This is when his fellow commentator mentioned Bali’s name, introducing him as an ex-Punjab cricketer who joined the team alongside Muzumdar. Manjrekar, however, failed to recognise him and on-air spoke, “I could not recognise him. North ke players ki taraf mera zyada dhyaan nahi hota (I don’t pay much attention to the players from North India).”
The clip of the short remark soon went viral on the internet, angering a particular set of Indian cricket fans who bashed Manjrekar for his “racist” remark. Some even claimed that the “Mumbai lobby” is at work. A former Mumbai player himself, this isn’t the first time that Manjrekar has come under the radar of the fans and faced their anger. Some of the fans even asked the broadcaster to sack him from the job.
Here are a few fan reactions to Manjrekar’s remark –
I’ve no interest in North Indian Cricketers
– Sanjay Manjrekar
Why so much hate ? pic.twitter.com/RBPkPvYuCJ
— Sports_comedy (@sports_komedy) October 5, 2024
I don’t have interest in North Indian cricketers
~Sanjay Manjrekar @ICC @BCCI how can you allow such racist person in comm panel??
Put ban on him
— Naeem𝕏 (@18ModernMaster) October 5, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar said, “I don’t pay much attention to players from the North.”
Mumbai Lobby is a real thing!!
— abhay singh (@abhaysingh_13) October 5, 2024
PATHETIC. SHOULD BE SACKED IMMEDIATELY https://t.co/YUakKqahm3
— तपिश सिंह (@sinhatapish) October 5, 2024
Sack him
— Haritha⋆.ೃ (@Kohli_thetic_X) October 4, 2024
New Zealand beat India in opener
The Kiwis defeated the Women in Blue to give them a reality check and made things clearer for them on the way ahead. India Women started their campaign with a 58-run defeat as they were bowled out for a mere 102 runs in 19 overs while going after 161 with not a single player reaching an individual score of 20. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was utterly disappointed over the loss and admitted that the team didn’t play its best cricket.
She also agreed that 161 had to be a difficult target on a track that was slow. India next play Pakistan on Sunday and Kaur feels that her team will come good against the arch-rivals. “We know this group is capable of better, this wasn’t the start we were expecting but we have to go from here,” Harmanpreet said post-match.
Sanjay Manjrekar has yet again found himself in a state of bother for his remark on the North Indian cricketers during live commentary of the India vs New Zealand Women’s T20 World Cup clash on Saturday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
