Sanjay Manjrekar shocked the cricket world by calling Ravindra Jadeja his “favourite cricketer” after his bowling heroics in the first innings of the ongoing third and final Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai .
Ravindra Jadeja was excellent with the ball as the left-arm spinner played double knocks in the second and third sessions respectively to finish with a five-wicket haul in his 22 overs in the ongoing third and final Test match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium.
Sanjay Manjrekar hails Ravindra Jadeja as his favorite after impressive five-wicket haul against New Zealand
Jadeja bowled a maiden and gave away just 65 runs in 22 overs while scalping five wickets, including key wickets of Will Young (71), Tom Blundell (0) and Glenn Phillips (17) in the ongoing Mumbai Test. Apart from Jadeja, Washington Sundar also caught fire against New Zealand.
Also Read: Watch: Ravindra Jadeja destroys Glenn Phillips’ stumps with a beauty in Mumbai Test
Remarkable efforts by Washington Sundar (4/81) and Jadeja helped the Indian cricket team restrict the New Zealand team to 235 runs in their first innings in the ongoing third and final Test at the Wankhede Stadium. On the field, Jadeja was fooling the New Zealand batsmen and Sanjay Manjrekar played the best shot on social media during the first innings.
On his social media account, Manjrekar praised Ravindra Jadeja for taking responsibility and delivering for the Indian cricket team when he and his team needed him the most against New Zealand. Impressed by Jadeja’s heroics at Wankhede, Manjrekar tagged him as his “favourite cricketer”.
Here is Manjrekar’s tribute post to Jadeja:
Sanjay Manjrekar posed in X: “Over the moon for my favorite cricketer Jadeja. 
One fiftieth! I needed that! And the team too. 
.”
Over the moon to my favorite cricketer Jadeja.
A fiftieth! I needed that! And the team too.– Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 1, 2024
Notably, Jadeja has recently been struggling to deliver with bat and ball in Test cricket. The Indian all-rounder had scored his last fifty against Bangladesh in Chennai. He took 10 wickets in the last home Test series against Bangladesh and managed only 6 wickets in the first two Tests against New Zealand.
Also Read: ‘Rohit Sharma looks finished in red-ball cricket’: Twitter slams India captain after another Test failure
His performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph was also disappointing. So, Manjrekar feels Jadeja needed to return between the wickets for him and the team as they are set to embark on the crucial Test tour of Australia next month.
A look back at Ravindra Jadeja and Sanjay Manjrekar’s ugly fight
Well, whenever Manjrekar speaks something about Jadeja, he draws attention very quickly given their bitter past relationship. Actually, Manjrekar and Jadeja had a nasty and ugly spat on social media during the 2019 World Cup.
The controversy ignited when Manjrekar referred to Jadeja as a “in pieces” cricketer, for which he was criticized by fans and even the star all-rounder. In response, Jadeja slammed Manjrekar saying, “Learn to respect people who have achieved. I’ve heard enough of your verbal diarrhea.”
Then there were many instances where they never missed a chance to criticize and troll each other. However, Manjrekar himself took the step of turning things around during last year’s Asia Cup and has been involved in a lot of banter ever since.
