Manjrekar, a former Test batsman and a pundit prominent in India, has been a regular in the commentary box for the last two decades, but could now see himself being removed from BCCI duties, comprising India home series as well as the Indian Premier League.

According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, Manjrekar was left out of the panel and did not travel to Dharamsala, the venue of the rained out ODI between India and South Africa, the first game in the three-match series that was subsequently called off. 

[caption id=”attachment_139726″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Sanjay Manjrekar has been a regular in the BCCI commentary panel for nearly two decades[/caption]

“Maybe he will be left out from the IPL panel too,” the report quoted a BCCI source as saying. “At this stage, it is not on top of our mind. But the fact is they are not happy with his work.”

Last year, Manjrekar drew widespread flak on more than one occasion, primarily for expressing widely unpopular opinions on air. Midway through the 2019 World Cup, he was criticised for branding Ravindra Jadeja a ‘bits-and-pieces cricketer’. Amid public outrage, the all-rounder himself retaliated on Twitter, calling Manjrekar’s commentary ‘verbal diarrhoea’.

It was the same remark Kieron Pollard had used against Manjrekar during a rant on Twitter, after the commentator had quipped “Pollard does not have the brains to play early in the innings,” during the IPL 2017.

The all-rounder did not hold back in his response to Sanjay Manjrekar. 👇 #CWC19 https://t.co/UhCTbR7XUW

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 4, 2019

He was also involved in a jarring on-air exchange with fellow commentator Harsha Bhogle in November, and came in for heavy criticism after Manjrekar took an apparent dig at the credentials of Bhogle, who isn’t an international cricketer. Later, he admitted to his folly, calling his own conduct ‘unprofessional’ and ‘indecent’.

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“With that particular comment, it was me losing control and I was unprofessional, I was wrong,” he later told ESPNcricinfo. “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. The first thing that I did was apologise to the producers because I was wrong.”

The string of recent events have taken some sheen off an established commentary career that began soon after his playing days ended in 1997/98, after he had featured in 37 Tests and 74 ODIs for India. Since then, he has been part of several ICC events, while being a well-known face in Indian cricket, and a regular on the IPL panel.