Sanjay Manjrekar subject to funny memes by fans for 'Jadeja the fielder' mention in tweet

It is no secret that former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar does not rate Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja highly, especially in the white-ball formats of the game. The veteran cricket analyst has time and again taken shots at Jadeja, making many assume that there is something that he doesn't like about the Saurashtra lad. During the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019 in England, Manjrekar had stirred a massive controversy by calling Jadeja a “bits and pieces” cricketer. Since then, Manjrekar has taken shots at Jadeja on several occasions. 

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Fans troll Sanjay Manjrekar for praising 'Jadeja the fielder'

However, after Jadeja's brilliant fielding effort on Day 2 of the India vs Australia Test at the SCG which caught centurion Steve Smith short of his crease, Manjrekar was full of praise for the southpaw. The veteran commentator took to Twitter and lauded Jadeja's incredible fielding. In fact, referring to the Smith run out. Manjrekar stated that Jadeja made possible what was clearly impossible.

Manjrekar's praise for Jadeja comes as a shocker considering the history that the two share. The former cricketer has been highly critical of Jadeja in the past whereas the left-hander has always silenced the commentator with his exceptional performances. Meanwhile, Manjrekar's tweet praising Jadeja didn't go down well with a lot of fans who slammed and roasted the 55-year old for always criticising the all-rounder and compartmentalising him. Here's a look at a few reactions.

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Coming back to the match, with the overnight score of 166/2, Australia started positively on Day 2 with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne going strong. However, once Labuschagne was dismissed for 91, wickets kept tumbling from one end while Smith held the other end and notched a ton to help the hosts post a competitive score of 338. 

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Australia could have scored a lot more runs if it wasn't for Jadeja's outstanding spell with the ball and his sharp fielding. The southpaw was the pick of the bowlers as he grabbed four crucial wickets (Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon) to keep the hosts in control. Moreover, he also contributed with his fielding by catching top-scorer and centurion Smith short of his crease courtesy of a bullet throw.

India vs Australia live score update

After restricting Australia to 338, India got off to a good start as openers Rohit and Gill posted 70 runs before the former was dismissed. Gill scored a valiant fifty and departed soon after. At the time of publishing this article, India reached 96/2 at Stumps with Cheteshwar Pujara batting on 9 and skipper Ajnikya Rahane unbeaten on 5. India will hope that the duo carries on and lays a solid foundation for the lower-middle order to come and score big. 

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SOURCE: SANJAY MANJREKAR & RAVINDRA JADEJA INSTAGRAM