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With a straight bat

Raring to go! Sanjay Manjrekar’s first big assignment will be Twenty-20 World Cup

“I have carried the lifestyle of my cricket days to commentary. I go to bed early on the night before the game, avoid heavy lunch…my colleagues find this pursuit of perfection boring.” This is Sanjay Manjrekar for you. As he joins ESPN-Star Sports’ team of commentators, he still strives for flawlessness.“I don’t go with any preset notions. I treat every shot and player on merit. When I host, I go with basic questions because I feel answers will lead to more genuine questions,” says Manjrekar, who started his career as a commentator with Ten Sports.

As for music, he reveals he is very particular about his net practice, the riyaz. “I am learning from a big name in the industry for the last 18 months. I don’t want to reveal his name because it will amount to name dropping. Let me hone my skills and then I will come with an album.” Manjrekar had cut an album “Rest Day”, where he sang his team-mates’ favourite songs. Manjrekar says the game has changed over the years and there is no longer a rest day in a Test match and so have his interests in music.

“I love to watch Twenty-20 and I am working on contemporary music!”

Technical perfection is no longer the buzzword in the game, but Sanjay says technique is not a constant.

“Technique is something which allows you to score substantially at a decent pace over a period of time. When somebody like Sehwag achieves it in his own style, nobody could question him on technique.”

Manjrekar, in fact, wants to have a debate on whether the present Indian team is the best ever. “I feel it is, because today six to seven players can win us a game, which was not the case earlier. We used to rely on two or three players.” But friendly wickets also seem to have played a part in the historic success in New Zealand, he feels.

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