We know how much Indians love cricket. But as the extremely high number of crimes committed by jilted lovers in this country shows, intense passion could manifest itself in perverse forms. This applies to cricket fans also. The love Indians have for the game is admirable, except when it leads to behaviour that is lacking in grace and dignity.
One's mind goes back to the booing of Lasith Malinga at Wankhede Stadium in 2011. His crime was doing his job and getting the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the World Cup final. Malinga, a bowler who played without a scowl or foul temper, apparently, had become hateful just for doing what he is supposed to.
Something similar has been going on in India for more than an year. Sanjay Manjrekar, former India batsman and a leading commentator, has been repeatedly trolled in social media. What really about Manjrekar angers cricket fans is unclear. Of late, it has been his supposed tiff with Ravindra Jadeja that originated during the World Cup 2019.
Despite Manjrekar humbly accepting that he was wrong in his assessment of Jadeja, Indian fans have been continuously abusing and insulting the broadcaster. On Friday, after India's victory where Jadeja starred with the bat, there was again a spike in mentions of Manjrekar on Twitter. Again, Indian fans were doing their best to mock the former India batter.
This has to stop! Manjrekar has been a dedicated commentator who has covered cricket as a broadcaster for more than two decades. One can have a divergent view as to how good or bad he is at his job, but to continuously ridicule a man is downright petty. Besides, far from being biased against Jadeja, Manjrekar over the years has been among his biggest admirers.
Besides, which commentator hasn't been occassionally wrong about a player or two in his broadcasting career. The late Dean Jones once remarked that he thinks Ajantha Mendis will pick up 600 wickets in his international career, Ravi Shastri kept asserting that Suresh Raina's short-ball problem is only temporary. There are multiple examples.
Also, what exactly has the former Mumbai batsman done to continuously draw this opprobrium. Is it that he is meticulous in his commentary? Is it because he has an independent mind and, unlike a Harsha Bhogle, doesn't shape his views to stay on the good side of public opinion? Is it because he doesn't fill his commentary with anodyne comments.
Some may argue that he was an ordinary player in his day, so doesn't have the right to criticize others. This view just doesn't hold up. By that logic, neither Akash Chopra nor many of his colleagues have the right to criticize anyone, and certainly not Harsha Bhogle!
And for those who think Manjrekar was an average batsman, here are some facts for you. He scored a hundred in West Indies, in 1989, on one of the fastest wickets of the world - Barbados - against a bowling attack that included Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, and Ian Bishop. For all his bat-twirling, Jadeja hasn't come remotely close to facing such an attack on such a surface.
On India's tour of Pakistan, in 1989 - Sachin's debut series, Majrekar raked up more than 500 runs in the series. It was that performance which earned him the moniker - The Wall - before Rahul Dravid earned it later. He was, in that sense, the Proto-Wall before the arrival of the actual Wall.
To mock and ridicule such a player continuously shows, not just a lack of respect, but lack of manners. In 2013, when England toured Australia for the Ashes, an overzealous Australian newspaper decided that it won't publish Broad's name because of him not walking during the previous series, in England. That was obviously an act of imbecile petulence. So is continuously making fun of a completely respectable commentator without any provocation.
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