Sanjay Manjerkar, who has made the headlines for the wrong reasons a few times this year, on Monday regretted his widely criticized spat with co-commentator Harsha Bhogle, for being disrespectful towards him during the day-night Test against Bangladesh in November.
Manjrekar, who played 37 Test matches and 74 One-Day Internationals for India, got into a heated on-air discussion with Bhogle during day three of the Pink-ball Test. The topic was regarding the visibility of the pink ball where Bhogle demanded introspection by taking players’ views into account.
Not only was the former Mumbai cricketer against Bhogle’s views, he also seemingly lost his cool when his colleague pressed on the issue.
“You need to ask [the players about visibility] perhaps, [but] for us, those who have played the game, we have a fair idea of what’s happening out there,” the former India cricketer responded to Bhogle, who has not played any first-class cricket but is still recognised as one of the best in the commentary business.
Looking back at his comments, Manjrekar stated he regretted the incident.
“I want to get very serious about this,” he told ESPNCricinfo in a video interview. “See, one thing I pride myself on is being professional and with that particular comment it was me losing control and I was unprofessional, I was wrong and something that I regret... it was wrong of me. That is what really bothers me that I let my emotions get the better of me. Mostly being unprofessional and to an extent indecent as well.”
The controversy had become a topic of discussion off-field and Manjrekar clarified he issued an apology to the producer of broadcaster Star Sports too.
‘’Of course. It was wrong and I say that because it was unprofessional and the first thing that I did was I had apologized to the producer that I was working for that it was wrong’’, he added.
Manjrekar also said it was his worst year as a commentator, referring also to his spat with Ravindra Jadeja during the World Cup.
(Clarification: The headline originally mentioned it was during South Africa series, it has now been corrected)