Indian commentator and former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar prepares before a live interview
Credit: PTI Photo
Former India cricketer and well-known commentator Sanjay Manjrekar is facing a backlash for making racist comments against North Indian players.
While commentating on Friday during India vs New Zealand game in 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, Manjrekar said he doesn't have in-depth knowledge about players from North India.
Manjrekar, who was on the commentary panel for the Hindi broadcast team, was discussing Munish Bali, who is the fielding coach for the women’s team.
When Manjrekar failed to recognise Bali, his fellow commentator pointed out that Bali is a former cricketer for Punjab before his role as a fielding coach to which Manjrekar responded: “Sorry, meine unko pehechana nahin. North ke players ke saath mere zyaada dhyaan nahin hota. (Sorry, I didn’t recognize him. I don't pay a lot of attention to players from the North.)”
His comments did not go down well as fans weren’t too happy with how this reflected an ignorance of cricketers from elsewhere in the country.
Manjrekar has previously been in hot water for his on-air comments on several occasions, such as a misjudged remark towards co-commentator Harsha Bhogle during India’s tour of Australia 2019. He was also recently criticised for his handling of a special occasion during the toss in a Rajasthan Royals IPL match.
Meanwhile, India's campaign suffered an early jolt after the Harmanpreet Kaur-led squad were handed a 58-run hammering in their Group A opener against New Zealand in Dubai on Friday.
Chasing 161 for victory, India were bundled out for 102 in 19 overs with Kaur's 15 the highest individual score in their innings.
The play was briefly held up after umpires rejected India's run-out appeal against New Zealand's Amelia Kerr.
Kerr took a single off the last ball of Deepti Sharma's over before slowing down, and the bowler went to the umpire to collect her cap.
The New Zealand batters then tried to take a second run, but India wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh collected a throw and broke the stumps with Kerr short of ground.
India were celebrating a run-out, but the umpires declared the ball had been dead once single was taken and any subsequent event did not count.
In Group A, New Zealand and Pakistan have begun their campaign with victories, while Australia begin their title defence against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
The top two teams from the group make the semi-finals.
(With inputs from PTI)