Sanjay Manjrekar’s on-air spat with colleague Harsha Bhogle was one of the talking points of the Pink Ball Test after a clip of the two commentators engaged in a bitter argument on air went viral during Day 3 of the Test match between India and Bangladesh.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Manjrekar admitted on Monday that it was wrong of him to make those comments and he apologised to the producers immediately after that incident.
“With that particular comment, it was me losing control and I was unprofessional, I was wrong. It is something that I regret, it was wrong of me so that is what really bothers me that I let my emotions get the better of me.
“So mostly being unprofessional and to an extent indecent as well. First thing that I did was apologise to the producers because I was wrong.
“People who have read my book know that I have actually made plea for production companies to have good commentators, doesn’t matter whether they have played cricket or not,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo’s videocast.
During the match, Harsha Bhogle suggested that a post-mortem needs to be done of India’s maiden Pink ball Test and players should be asked for their opinion on the visibility of the ball.
However, Manjrekar suggested there was no issue with the visibility of the ball and he knows it because, he has played international cricket, unlike Bhogle.
“Well there is a post-mortem done on this game and there should be a post mortem on this game. Visibility of that ball will be a big factor against the big white sight-screen,” Bhogle said.
“Don’t think so. Because when you see the slip catchers the way they have taken catches, I don’t think visibility is an issue at all. The texture of the ball is the issue,” responded Manjrekar, who has played 37 Tests for India between 1987 and 1996.
“We just need to ask the players what they think,” replied Bhogle, who was the first Indian commentator to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for an overseas tour in 1992.
On this, Manjrekar took a jibe at Bhogle, saying, “You need to ask, for those who have played cricket, it’s evident it can be seen well.”
However, Bhogle was adamant in his argument and countered Manjrekar, saying, “The only reason you need to ask is, having played cricket should never be a limitation or a ceiling to learning. We would never have had T20 cricket otherwise.”
The spat came to an end with Manjrekar saying, “Point taken, don’t agree.”
Manjrekar received a lot of flak on social media from cricket fans for his rude and arrogant behaviour towards a senior commentator like Bhogle back in November.
