Sanjay Manjrekar trolled again, this time for praising Ravindra Jadeja

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar faces a dilemma nowadays. The 53-year-old sparked a massive controversy by calling Ravindra Jadeja a “bits and pieces cricketer” during making a commentary in the England-India game on June 30. The matter soon snowballed into a massive controversy after Jadeja himself lashed out at the latter and accused him of indulging in “verbal diarrhoea”.

The fans also slammed Manjrekar for his remarks and even wanted him to be thrown out of the commentary box. It may be mentioned here that Manjrekar had issues with other Indian cricketers in the past as well. However, Manjrekar found a golden opportunity to step back once Jadeja produced a gem of a performance in the semi-final game against New Zealand on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He gave only 34 runs in his 10 overs and took the wicket of Henry Nicholls on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the reserve day after the match got postponed because of rain, he produced some excellent fielding before almost taking India to the final with a knock of 77 in just 59 balls.

Manjrekar took to Twitter on Wednesday to congratulate him on his brilliant show in the game that took India very close to the target. He said “Well played Jadeja” followed by a teasing emoji and it again, did not go down well with the fans. Manjrekar has bashed once again. The emoji had turned the fans even more upset.

Manjrekar said he wasn’t there in stands when Jadeja celebrated his fifty

Also after the match, the former cricketer said during an on-ground interview that he was ripped apart in bits and pieces by Jadeja’s performance on the day. He also tendered an apology, albeit jokingly that he was not there in the stands when Jadeja came up with his trademark ‘sword-wielding’ celebration after hitting the half-century. “I was at the lounge, having my lunch,” Manjrekar said, leaving both the anchor and co-interview Ian Smith in splits.

Jadeja and MS Dhoni added 116 runs for the seventh wicket after India were reduced to 92 for 6 in pursuit of 240 in 50 overs. But once Jadeja was caught by Kane Williamson and Dhoni was run out by a brilliant throw from Martin Guptill, India’s chances evaporated.This is how the Twitterati reacted to Manjrekar’s praise for Jadeja