Happy Birthday, Sanjay Manjrekar! Recalling Five Much-Talked-About Comments from a Former Indian Cricketer

Sanjay Manjrekar was a highly skilled and prolific run scorer whose graceful batting captivated Indian cricket fans. Manjrekar was technically sound and was hailed as the next Sunil Gavaskar for his excellent timing. Over 10,000 runs were scored by the Mumbaikar in 147 first-class games.

In first-class cricket, Manjrekar had a remarkable average of 55.11. In November 1987, he made his international debut for India against the powerful West Indies. Winston Benjamin’s delivery hit him, forcing him to leave the game. His 4037 runs, which included 24 half-centuries, five centuries, and one double hundred, were scored in 111 international games.

At the age of 32, Manjrekar ended his career in international cricket. After retiring, he started to remark.

During his time as a pundit, Sanjay Manjrekar made a number of very divisive remarks. Today is Manjrekar’s 58th birthday, so it’s time to look back at some of his most well-known remarks.

1. “Jadeja is a bits and pieces player, but I’m not a big fan of them.”

Sanjay Manjrekar’s remarks towards Jadeja started a significant argument. Manjrekar drew a vehement reaction from the all-rounder himself in addition to receiving harsh criticism from supporters. “I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players,” Manjrekar said in a tweet about Jadeja at this juncture in his 50-over cricket career. He only bowls during Test matches. However, I would like to have a batsman and a spinner in a 50-over cricket match.

2. “Pollard is not intelligent,”

For more than a decade, Kieron Pollard played as a finisher for the Mumbai Indians, and his all-around prowess was well-known across the globe. While leading the team in one game, Pollard moved up the pecking order. Manjrekar said something unexpected about the West Indian, claiming that “Pollard doesn’t have brains to bat up the order.”

3. “Virat Kohli does not belong in Test Cricket”

Given Kohli’s success in the longest format, this was possibly the worst analysis Manjrekar has produced to yet. It has been brought up often in debate. Manjrekar tweeted, “I would still drop VVS & get Rohit in for the next Test,” during the India-Australia series in 2011–12.Over time, it makes sense. Give Virat one more test to make sure he doesn’t belong in this place.

Four. “Ashwin Is Not An All-Time Great.”

India’s second-highest all-time Test wicket-taker is Ravichandran Ashwin. In recent years, Ashwin has shown to be one of the top off-spinners in the world. Manjrekar, though, disagreed, saying, “I have a few issues when people start talking about Ashwin as being one of the all-time greats of the game. When you look at SENA nations, Ashwin doesn’t have a single five-wicket haul, which is one fundamental issue I have with him.

Five. “I am surprised to see Murali at the top.”

The official announcers during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year compiled a list of Indian hitters with the greatest talk rate at home. It puzzled Manjrekar a lot that former Indian batter Murali Vijay had topped the charts. He commented in response to the ranking, “I am surprised to see Murali at the top.”