At a time when the cricket world is abuzz and divided due to an on-air spat between commentators Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar during the historic pink-ball Test between India and Bangladesh, domestic cricket legend Amol Muzumdar also seemed to have joined the bandwagon and took a cheeky dig at Manjrekar.
During the Day-Night Test match at the Eden Gardens, Manjrekar and Bhogle were discussing about the visibility of the pink ball when the former said that the players should be asked about their views on the ball to get a clear knowledge of how it behaved during the match.
However, the conversation took an ugly shape when Manjrekar refused to accept Bhogle’s point of view and asserted there was no need to ask anything from the players. Having played international cricket, he claimed that everything seemed fine to him.
“When there is a post-mortem done of this, the visibility of the ball will be one of the things to look at,” Bhogle was heard saying at the beginning of the conversation.
Manjrekar, denying his view, said, “Don’t think so. Don’t think visibility is an issue.” To which Bhogle replied, “We just need to ask the players what they think.”
That looked to be the boiling point for Manjrekar as he lost his patience and claimed authority, “You need to ask perhaps, for us, those who have played the game, we have a fair idea of what’s happening out there.”
On the other hand, Muzumdar, during his commentary stint in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game between Mumbai and Delhi in which India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was playing, chose to stay away from giving expert advice about Pant’s international game.
On air, the former Mumbai batsman was asked by his colleague, “Pant is used to facing the express pace of India bowlers in the nets & international bowlers. How should he adjust to the lack of pace here?”
Muzumdar replied, “How will I know? I have never played at that level.”