'Non cricketers do great analysis too' - Sanjay Manjrekar hits back at a troll on Twitter

As the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is just two weeks away, the cricket analysts and former players from all over the world have been making assumptions and speculations regarding the performance of various players and teams in the lucrative T20 tournament.

Former Indian batsman and a famous commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar is not behind as he’s analyzing the performance of the players. He has been rating the bowling and batting line-up of all the eight franchises.

Sanjay Manrekar hails Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan on Twitter

On Monday, Manjrekar took to his official Twitter handle to hail the Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan as an interesting prospect for Indian Premier League’s sides as a replacement player. The 21-year-old bowler can join the club of the world-class spinners produced by Afghanistan that includes the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman as he possesses the unique attribute, the chinaman bowling.

Sanjay tweeted, “Zahir Khan of Afghanistan can be such a tempting replacement player for a few franchises in the IPL.”

Zahir Khan of Afghanistan can be such a tempting replacement player for a few franchises in the IPL. #CPLT20 #IPL2020

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 7, 2020

However, this analysis by the former right-handed batsman didn’t go well with a Twitterati as she posed questions on Sanjay saying how can he judge a bowler when he himself had never been in their shoes. The Twitter user took a dig at the 55-year-old saying that as per the latter one who doesn’t play the game of cricket can’t analyse it.

“How can you judge a bowler when you were never a bowler? (As per you, non Cricketer can’t analyse Cricket)” the tweet read.

How can you judge a bowler when you were never a bowler ?
(As per you, non Cricketer can't analyse Cricket)

— Grishma Sharma (@GrishmaSharma17) September 7, 2020

Through her tweet, the user had referred to the commentator’s heated discussion with Harsha Bhogle about the visibility of the pink ball during the third day’s play of the day-night Test between India and Bangladesh. During the match at Eden Gardens, Bhogle had suggested on commentary that the players should be questioned regarding the visibility of ball. To this, Manjrekar had taken a dig at Bhogle saying that the former knows better as he had experience of playing the game.

Nonetheless, taking note of the comments made by the user, the former middle-order batsman reckoned that for the batsman, bowlers were their main focus and even the selectors used to consult them about making the pick of the bowling unit for the team. He further clarified that the non-cricketers also have great knowledge about the game by talking about the respect he has for the Barbadian cricket journalist Tony Cozier.

Manjrekar replied, “1) As batsmen, bowlers were our main focus. Selectors often asked us about bowlers they were interested in picking. So we batsmen can be good judges of bowlers no? Smiling face with smiling eyes 2) Non cricketers do great analysis too, I used to almost touch the feet of Tony Cozier every time I met him.”

1) As batsmen, bowlers were our main focus. Selectors often asked us about bowlers they were interested in picking. So we batsmen can be good judges of bowlers no?😊
2) Non cricketers do great analysis too, I used to almost touch the feet of Tony Cozier every time I met him. https://t.co/edJ09vgjEp

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 7, 2020