During India’s campaign in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as Perth, where Indian seamers Siraj and Bumrah have set the Australian track on fire with their fiery spells of hostile and accurate fast bowling, a vile comment has been made by former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar.
Sanjay Manjrekar, while discussing the development of pacers on Indian pitches, commented that due to the excess grass on subcontinent pitches, even bowling at a very low pace can help seamers top the wicket-taking tally.
During his commentary session, he opined on Indian pitches and named Vinay Kumar as an example of a bowler who bowled 120 kmph yet topped the wicket-takers tally.
Manjrekar bluntly commented, saying, “But I think that’s gone, but what it also did was medium pacers like Vinay Kumars, with no disrespect to him, were topping the wicket-taking charts because all they needed to do with the grass on the pitch was put the ball at 120 kmph in the right area, and they got wicket.”
Vinay Kumar took a sharp-edged reply to the former Indian cricketer’s comment and wrote on his X handle, “Sanjay bhai, with due respect, your speed gun requires urgent servicing. 120 KMPH, seriously? With God’s grace, I take pride in my achievements; I am content, satisfied, and happy with my life. A medium pacer like Vinay Kumar has worked really hard to become the 1st Indian fast bowler to take 100 IPL wickets and has also played for the country in all the formats. I take pride in my bowling. Anyway, best wishes and regards.”
Sanjay Manjrekar is known for indulging in such controversies. He was involved in controversy with Mohammed Shami while commenting on the lowering of his auction price tag.
Travis Head brings out his best against India
With successive wickets for Australia, Usman Khawaja was sent back to the pavilion, and Australia seemed in deep trouble with 4 wickets down for a score less than 20 in their innings where they would have to chase a huge target of 534.
Head seemed the only batter whose form compelled some runs on the board for the Australians on their home soil, as Steven Smith, the silent partner in the long partnership, also fell after a brief inning of 17 runs.
Smith and Marsh are currently the batting pair who are scoring a fair amount of runs, with Travis Head still in the crease. Australia still would hope to take the innings further.
