Sanjay Manjrekar, former India cricketer finally looked back at the storm that arose years ago over his comments on Ravindra Jadeja and subsequently, Mohammed Shami. Since joining commentary, Manjrekar has been a voice in the broadcast of cricket but his vocal views have also entangled him in scandals.
Sanjay Manjrekar vs Ravindra Jadeja in World Cup 2019
The most controversial of those instances were the 2019 ODI World Cup when Manjrekar termed Jadeja a ‘bits and pieces cricketer’. His comment immediately generated a response as Jadeja made it clear that he disliked it.
“I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players, which Jadeja is at this point in his career in 50-over cricket. In Test matches, he is a pure bowler. But in 50-over cricket, I would rather have a batsman and a spinner,” Manjrekar had said on Times of India.
Jadeja quickly fired back on social media, writing, “Still, I have played twice the number of matches you have played and I’m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea. @sanjaymanjrekar.”
The controversy led to one of the most discussed confrontations that year of that World Cup, demonstrating the seriousness with which Indian players received criticism, particularly in high-stakes tournaments.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s Views on Mohammed Shami Before IPL Auction
Manjrekar was in another controversy a few years later, before IPL 2025, when he raised the question whether Mohammed Shami would fetch a big bid in the mega auction. His worries were associated with the injury history of Shami and the possibility that the franchises would be at risk should he fail in the middle of the season.
“There will definitely be interest from teams, but given Shami’s injury history-and this recent one took a significant amount of time to recover-there’s always a concern about a potential breakdown during the season. If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag,” Manjrekar noted.
Shami however retaliated by being sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad at INR 10 crore. In a sharp Instagram story, he wrote, “Baba ki jay hoooooo. Thodasa gyan apne future k lie bhi bacha loo kaam ayega Sanjay G? Kisi ko future janna ho to sir se mile.”
Sanjay Manjrekar Clarifies on Jadeja and Shami
In reaction to these historical events, Manjrekar recently appeared on the YouTube channel of Stalin Mathias. The players have misunderstood him because he had no intention to attack anyone personally, which he indicated.
“I think Jadeja was more misunderstanding, bits and pieces he thought [it] was like a cringe cricketer. I thought he misunderstood that term, and Shami have got no idea. Somebody told me that he reacted, but I have no idea what the reaction was, and that is how I keep it simple,” Manjrekar said.
He confessed that in the past he would fall prey to the backlash and even attempted to justify his remarks. However, with time he has learnt to pass such controversies without having to comment a lot.
Sanjay Manjrekar on Handling Criticism
The social outrage, as Manjrekar puts it, is a wave that appears and disappears, and he does not allow it to bother him anymore.
“The best thing about these Tsunamis is that these kind of controversies or reactions, I mean, 48 hours later, they found something else to get upset about,” he concluded.
Having a long broadcasting career behind him, Manjrekar has come to terms with the fact that he has to face criticism because of his work. It could be the bits and pieces comment concerning Jadeja or it could be his apprehensions about Shami, he thinks he was not understood but he has come to understand that he can no longer bear the burden of such responses.
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