Unfortunate Career of Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar had a strange and unfortunate career in cricket. A proper assessment of Sanjay Manjrekar's career if it is broken into 3 parts
Part 1:- Successor to Sunil Gavskar in early days of career.
Sanjay Manjrekar, is the son of a great cricketer Vijay Manjrekhar. Sanjay Manjrekar made his Test Debut in 1987, the same year in which Sunil Gavaskar retired. The comparison did not end just there. Manjrekar was considered to be technically as correct as Gavaskar. Manjrekar could not have asked anything more to start his career with.
Part 2:- Actual Test & One Day Career
Test Match Career:- However Manjrekar's technique fetched him just 2023 runs in Test Matches. For somebody considered technically correct, he had a poor batting average of 37.14 which meant he could never be relied to give stability to his team. His strike rate of 38.67 in Tests meant that he was never ever going to be a match winner for India with the bat. He had one exceptional series against Pakistan in Pakistan in 1990 playing against the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus. Apart from that he had hardly done anything in his career.
One Day Career:- Manjrekar had a reasonable batting average of 33.23 in one dayes. However his strike rate of 64.30 per 100 balls was really pathetic, considering the fact he played in an era where Team India were no longer pushovers and had graduated to playing to win matches. Those days it was common to see Manjrekar or Prabhakar playing the first 4 balls of a over, take a single of the 5th ball leaving Tendulkar just one ball to attempt a risky shot and get out. Manjrekar also had a reputation of being a poor runner between wickets and often used to get somebody like Sachin out while running. Manjrekar also had a reputation of blocking a player' strike especially when the batsman at the other end is in good rhythmn and stroking well.
Part 3:- Career as a Commentator & Critic
Commentator:- As a commentaor Manjrekar may not have been as brilliant as Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar or Tony Greig, but he has been competent and can easily be classified as one of the better commentators.
Critic:- As a critic Manjrekar has been unfair, as he has been critical of greats like Sachin. Manjrekar has gone overboard in his criticism, while he himself had numerous limitations in his career and never made an effort to overcome those limitations
The best part of Manjrekar's career is that he acquired fame before his career started and after his retirement. Manjrekar's career never brought any fame
Regards
Satish
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