‘North ke Players ki Taraf Zyada…’: Fans Demand Ban on Sanjay Manjrekar for Remark on India Women’s Fielding Coach – News18

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar was bashed by the cricket fans for his remarks while calling the India vs New Zealand fixture in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the UAE. Harmanpreet Kaur & Co were chasing 161 when Manjrekar considered taking a dig at the Indian women’s team fielding coach Munish Bali.

The former India batter was speaking about the coaching staff of the Indian women’s team when his fellow commentator mentioned Bali’s name, introducing him as a former Punjab cricketer who joined the women’s team alongside Amol Majumdar. But Manjrekar failed to recognize him.

“I could not recognise him. North ke players ki taraf mera zyada dhyaan nahi hota (I don’t pay much attention to the players from North India),” Manjrekar said on air.

The comment didn’t go down well among the fans and they began lashing out at the former India batter, even asking the broadcasters to sack him.

Underwhelming Start for India

The women in blue kicked off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a 58-run defeat against New Zealand. India were bowled out for 102 in 19 overs in their pursuit of 161 with not a single player reaching an individual score of 20.

A distraught Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur conceded that her team didn’t play its best cricket during the 58-run thrashing.

“We didn’t play our best cricket. Going forward we know every game is important,” Kaur said at post-match presentation ceremony.

She disagreed that 161 was a difficult target on a slowish track.

“We have chased many times 160-170, we were expecting that on the board. While batting, we knew someone had to bat through but we kept losing wickets,” she added.

India play Pakistan on Sunday and Kaur feels that her team will come up trumps against arch-rivals.

“We know this group is capable of better, this wasn’t the start we were expecting but we have to go from here,” Harmanpreet said.