File photo of Sanjay Manjrekar
Former India batsman and reputed broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar has been dropped from Board of Control for Cricket in India's [BCCI] commentary panel. His axe from the list could mean he will not feature in this year's IPL as well, which now will start from April 15 instead of the earlier scheduled date of March 29 because of coronavirus.
According to reports in Mumbai Mirror, Manjrekar was not present in Dharamsala during the first ODI of the South Africa series, which was eventually washed out without a ball being bowled. Manjrekar's absence was stark as other panel commentators like Sunil Gavaskar, VVS Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, and Murali Kartik were present at the venue
The reported reason behind this is that the authorities were not happy with his work, hence, resulting in the axe.
"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 Mirror.
The 54-year-old was invovled in two social media battles with fans last year and that didn't go down too well it seems. He first called Ravindra Jadeja a 'bits and pieces' cricketer and then questioned the credentials of of fellow commentator Harsha Bhogle.
However, Manjrekar did apologise for both of his comments later on.
