Days after India’s T20 World Cup triumph, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar sparked debate with an unusual take on the achievement. Taking to X on Tuesday, March 10, Manjrekar claimed that many cricket fans do not view all ICC trophies as equal in stature. According to him, supporters often regard victories in the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC World Test Championship as bigger accomplishments than winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Incidentally, India failed to win the 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup, hosted in their own backyard. The team also failed to reach the final of the World Test Championship last season after horrendous failures against New Zealand and South Africa.
However, in this period, the Indian T20I team played some fantastic cricket and won back-to-back T20 World Cups, becoming the first team in the history of the competition to achieve this unique feat.
Fans criticised Manjrekar for his opinion and called out the timing of it.
“This is all true. But probably the worst time to say it is right after winning a T20 WC. Nobody is holding a gun to your head asking you to convey bitter truths. It’s like Sania Mirza celebrating her becoming world No. 1 in the rankings and you replying ‘In doubles’,” comedian Abijit Ganguly replied to Manjrekar’s tweet.
The fans also seemed irked by the former player’s opinion.
Meanwhile, India dominated the T20 World Cup final to lift their second trophy in a row in the format. India beat New Zealand by a mammoth margin of 96 runs to defend their crown. Jasprit Bumrah and Sanju Samson were the stars of the show in the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
MANJREKAR’S HISTORY OF CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS
This is not the first time that Sanjay Manjrekar has created a social media stir with his comments. In 2024, Manjrekar had hit out against India coach Gautam Gambhir over his demeanour at press conferences.
Manjrekar, in a strongly-worded statement, ahead of the Vorder-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, criticised Gambhir’s press conference, saying the Indian cricket board (BCCI) should keep him away from press duties.
Manjrekar went on to say that Gambhir lacked the “demeanour” to represent the Indian cricket team in press meets and should instead stay behind the scenes and focus on the job at hand.
“Just watched Gambhir in the press conference. May be wise for @BCCI to keep him away from such duties, let him work behind the scenes. He does not have the right demeanour nor the words when interacting with them. Rohit & Agarkar, much better guys to front up for the media,” Manjrekar had written on X,
