India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has, in recent times, proven himself to be an indispensable asset to the men in blue’s lineup. ‘Sir’ Jaddu’s pyrotechnics lower down the order, coupled with his ability to play as a complete bowler, makes him one of the most sought out international players in the current cricketing scenario. Add to that his near impeccable fielding abilities; you will quite easily understand why fans get triggered when pundits try to malign Jadeja’s skills.
Sanjay Manjrekar and Ravindra Jadeja have bad blood
Former India batsman now turned presenter Sanjay Manjrekar has been one such pundit; whose insights on Jadeja haven’t sat down too well with fans of the Saurashtra all-rounder. And, as it would appear, neither with Jadeja himself. On several occasions, fans have labeled Sanjay’s analysis of Jadeja’s performances as denigrating and unfair.
Perhaps the most controversial of Manjrekar’s opinions arrived during the 2019 World Cup; where the former had called Jadeja a ‘bits-and-pieces player’. According to Sanjay, Jadeja’s ability to slot into the team as an all-rounder virtually locked him a spot in the playing XI. Even if Jadeja had a lean outing with either the bat or the ball, Sanjay reasoned, he would have still had a good chance of featuring in subsequent matches thanks to the extra skillsets he brought to the table.
“I have had enough of your verbal diarrhea”- Jadeja’s response to Manjrekar’s bits-and-pieces comments
As previously mentioned- fans did not take Sanjay’s statements lightly and gave him a strong piece of their mind on social media. But the argument escalated even further when Jadeja himself hit back at Sanjay for his comments. Jadeja tweeted that he had had enough of Sanjay’s biased opinions and urged him to put an end to his ‘verbal diarrhea’.
Since that tweet, it seemed that both Sanjay and Sir Jaddu had seemingly made some sort of truce. In fact, both parties even engaged in a few light-hearted social-media banter following their blatant Twitter argument. During one of India’s matches against South Africa in September 2019, Jadeja had jokingly asked Sanjay about his ‘Player of the Match’ pick; to which Sanjay had replied with Jadeja’s name.
However, over on a recent interview, Jadeja revealed that while batting against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup Semi-finals; he had wanted to specifically target his celebrations at one particular TV commentator.
After scoring a fifty, Jadeja had performed his iconic sword-fighting celebration on the field. Back then, hardly anyone had noticed that he was pointing his bat towards the direction of the commentary box. But now, as Ravindra Jadeja revealed- there was a specific reason behind his sword celebration.
“Bhatta Garam tha, I was looking for the commentary box”- Ravindra Jadeja on his sword celebration
“Tab toh Bhatta garam tha, na! (The grill was hot, then!) I was searching for the commentary box. Then I thought, it must be somewhere there, only. And those who understand would know who I was targeting the celebration at!” Jadeja told The Indian Express.
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That match had seen Jadeja score a quickfire 77 off 59 in India’s pursuit of 240. He and MS Dhoni (50 off 72) forged a match-defining 116-run partnership for the eighth wicket to buoy India’s hopes after a disastrous start. But ultimately, it was New Zealand and their bowlers, who gave a strong exhibition of their composure and handed India an agonizing 18-run defeat.