NEW DELHI: Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was at the receiving end of social media backlash over his racist remark while commentating during the India vs New Zealand Women’s T20 World Cup game in Dubai on Friday.
In India’s tournament opener against the Kiwis, Manjrekar was doing Hindi commentary when he said he doesn’t have in-depth knowledge of players from northern India.
Manjrekar’s remark came when the commentary team was talking about the Indian team’s coaching unit. As Manjrekar’s fellow commentator was speaking about Munish Bali, a former Punjab player, he said that he failed to recognize him.
“Sorry, I could not recognise him. North ke players ki taraf mera zyada dhyaan nahi hota,” Manjrekar said.

The statement didn’t go down well with the fans as they demanded Manjrekar’s sacking.

In the match, favourites India went on to lose the match by a big 58-run margin to begin their campaign on a disappointing note.
Set a target of 161 by New Zealand, India collapsed to 102 all out in 19 overs, suffering an embarrassing defeat.
Harmanpreet Kaur and co. next face arch-rivals Pakistan in their second Group A clash on Sunday.