'I was unprofessional and wrong' - Sanjay Manjrekar regrets on-air spat with Harsha Bhogle

Every now and then, former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar makes it to the news for all the wrong reasons and the soon-to-end year was not an exception either. And as the year is about to end now, the former India batsman regretted his on-air spat with fellow commentator Harsha Bhogle last month.

As India were taking on Bangladesh in the historic pink-ball Test at the Eden Gardens, Manjrekar managed to hog the limelight for a while due to an unpleasant comment. On day three of the Test, he and Bhogle were discussing about the nature of the pink ball when things got out of control and he ended up making a disrespectful comment.

While he did not apologize for his comment at that time, he has done it now. Manjrekar has admitted that it was wrong of him to make those comments. He also admitted that he was unprofessional as he let his emotions get the better of him.

“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.

The spat between Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar

Talking about the spat, Sanjay Manjrekar had taken a dig at Bhogle for not playing international cricket. It all started when Bhogle said that the players would be in the best position to say about the nature and visibility of the pink ball. However, Manjrekar said that visibility is not an issue before Bhogle said that players should be asked for the same.

This is when Manjrekar lost his patience and ended up saying that Bhogle needs to talk to the players since he has not played cricket. Following the incident, Manjrekar had faced the heat from all around as fans and others slammed him for the comment.

“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 before Manjrekar hit back by saying: “You need to ask, for those who have played cricket, it’s evident it can be seen well.”

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