Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar Biography

When he returned from the Pakistan tour of 1989-90 with 569 runs at 95, Sanjay Manjrekar had the world at his feet. He played Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Abdul Qadir, and a young Waqar Younis the way few have on Pakistan soil. The quartet, all contenders of an all-time Pakistan XI, tried to get him out, but in vain. He went past 70 five times in seven outings, including a six-hour hundred and a nine-hour double-hundred. Manjrekar was the reason India came back from Pakistan without a defeat.

At that stage of his career his numbers read 784 runs at 60, including a six-hour hundred at Kensington Oval and two forties at Sabina Park — all this after a vicious bouncer from Winston Benjamin hit him over his left eye on his Test debut, forcing him to retire hurt.

They predicted Manjrekar would become the man who would rule the 1990s. The ball went past his bat only when he wanted to; everything was perfect, the way they described and portrayed them in the MCC coaching manual.

But Manjrekar could not convert his immense potential to big scores. The remainder of his career yielded 1,259 runs at a mere 30, his only three-figure score being a nine-hour (but match-saving) 104 against Zimbabwe.

As has been the case of many a talent, an Australia tour (1991-92, in his case) led to his undoing. He faced 64 balls per innings on that tour, grinding it out against Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, and co., but the runs never came even after he got his eyes in. Allan Border never gave him the gaps through which he could place the balls for his runs. As a result he came back with 197 runs at 22 without a fifty, and could never recover.

Before that, however, he was found wanting against the moving ball, especially against Richard Hadlee. Though his career was approaching a glorious end, the master bowler found the chink in Manjrekar’s seemingly impregnable armour. And barring 93 and 50 at Old Trafford, he never got going in England either.

Sanjay Manjrekar’s 2,043 runs came at 38.67, an average eerily similar to his father Vijay’s 39.12. Unfortunately, Manjrekar Sr did not live long enough to see his son pull off miracles at domestic levels: Sanjay would finish with 10,252 First-Class runs at 55. Even in List A cricket, where they thought he would be vulnerable, his 5,175 runs came at 46.

There were several big moments in domestic cricket. He amassed 377 in the Ranji Trophy semi-final of 1990-91. He was leading Bombay that season. They lost the final by 2 runs, but Manjrekar found his way back, leading them to the title in 1996-97.

His ODI numbers, 1,994 runs at 33 and a strike rate of 64, were better than what most think. He played some gems, like the 52-ball 52 not out and 82-ball 103 in consecutive innings against South Africa 1991-92, and the 42-ball 47 in the cliff-hanger against Australia at The Gabba in World Cup 1992. He went past the 50-mark 16 times in 70 innings. He also kept wickets, like his father Vijay (his great-uncle Dattaram Hindlekar was a specialist wicketkeeper).

He held on to his spot till 1996, but the triple-invasion of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman ended his career for good.

A decent singer, he released a music album. He is a columnist and commentator now.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Sanjay Manjrekar Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	37	61	2043	6	218	37.14	5282	38.67	4	9	220	1	25	1
ODIs	74	70	1994	10	105	33.23	3101	64.30	1	15	99	10	23	0
T20s	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	11	11	295	0	62	26.81	441	66.89	0	1	15	2	5	0

Sanjay Manjrekar Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	37	17	15	0	--	5.294	--	0	0	0/4	0/4
ODIs	74	8	10	1	10.00	7.500	8.000	0	0	1/2	1/2
T20s	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	11	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		1/2

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