Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Vijay Manjrekar  pronunciation  (born 12 July 1965) is a former Indian cricketer. He played international cricket for India from 1987 until 1996 as a right-handed middle order batsman. He scored just over two thousand runs in Test cricket at an average of 37.14. He occasionally played as wicket-keeper, and was known for his technically correct batting style. Following the conclusion of his cricket career, he works as a cricket commentator.

Cricket career

Sanjay Vijay Manjrekar was born in Mangalore in what was then the Mysore State in western India, on 12 July 1965(since his mother hailed from Mangalore);^[1] the son of Vijay Manjrekar, who made 55 Test match appearances for India between 1952 and 1965.^[2] As a school boy, he competed in the Cooch Behar Trophy between 1978 and 1982.^[3] He attended Bombay University,^[4] and played in the Vizzy Trophy and the Rohinton Baria Trophy between 1983 and 1985,^[3] winning both in 1985, with West Zone Universities and Bombay University respectively.^[5][6]

He made his first-class cricket debut on 7 March 1985, scoring 57 runs in his only innings for Bombay during their Ranji Trophy quarter-final victory over Haryana.^[7] He retained his place for the semi-final, but did not play again after that until the following season.^[8] He performed steadily in 1985–86, averaging 42.40 with the bat, though his highest score was 51 not out.^[9] The following season, he struck his first century in first-class cricket, remaining 100 not out during the first innings of a match against Baroda.^[10] He scored one other hundred that season, and his season's average was 76.40.^[9] He struck a double century for West Zone in October 1987, scoring 278 runs from 376 before being run out.^[11]

In late 1987, he made his international debut, facing the West Indies in Delhi. He scored five runs in the first innings, and ten in the second, when he retired hurt.^[12] His first half-century in international cricket was made against New Zealand in December 1988, during a One Day International. Manjrekar scored 52 runs during a narrow victory for India.^[13] The following April, he scored his maiden Test cricket century, hitting 108 against the West Indies.^[14] He scored his second Test century in November 1989, against Pakistan. In the fourth innings of the match, he scored 113 not out to help India draw the match.^[15] In the third Test of the same series, Manjrekar made his highest score in Test cricket, reaching 218 runs in the first innings, before being run out.^[16] He did not score another international century for two years, when he hit 105 runs from 82 balls in an ODI against South Africa.^[17]

Domestically, he enjoyed success in the 1990–91 season, scoring four centuries and one half-century in eight first-class appearances. During the season, he scored his highest total, 377,^[9] in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Hyderabad.^[18] He played in the final of the 1994–95 Ranji Trophy, scoring 224 runs to help Bombay to a total of 690/6 declared in their first innings, a total that saw them win the trophy.^[19]

He scored his final international century against Zimbabwe, in October 1992, reaching 104 in a drawn Test match.^[20] He continued to play for India until November 1996, making his final appearance in the first Test against South Africa. He scored 34 runs in the first innings and 5 runs in the second, playing as an opening batsman.^[21][8] He completed his international career with 2,043 Test runs, including four centuries, scored at 38.67, and 1,994 ODI runs at an average of 33.23.^[1] He won a second Ranji Trophy final in 1996–97, captaining his team, by this stage renamed Mumbai. Manjrekar scored 78 runs in the match, in which both sides only batted one innings.^[22] He kept playing domestic cricket until the end of the 1997–98 season, and had a batting average of 55.11 in first-class cricket, and 45.79 for List A cricket. After retiring from professional cricket, Manjrekar works as a cricket commentator.^[1] 24.^[23]

References

India squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup 1 Azharuddin (c) 2 Kapil Dev 3 Srikkanth 4 Shastri 5 Manjrekar 6 Tendulkar 7 Jadeja 8 Kambli 9 Amre 10 Prabhakar 11 Srinath 12 More (wk) 13 Raju 14 Banerjee

India squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Azharuddin (c) 2 Tendulkar 3 Jadeja 4 Sidhu 5 Kambli 6 Manjrekar 7 Mongia (wk) 8 Srinath 9 Prasad 10 Kumble 11 Prabhakar 12 Raju 13 Ankola 14 Kapoor Coach: Wadekar (Coach cum Manager)