'Twitter's done me more harm than good': Sanjay Manjrekar 'still trying to tame the beast'

Often facing flak for his controversial opinion, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes that microblogging site Twitter is a 'double-edged sword'. Admitting that the social media platform has not 'served him well' on occasions, Manjrekar said that is he is still trying to figure out digital media. The cricketer-turned-commentator has often found himself in the face of criticism following his opinions.

“Twitter is a double-edged sword. It has served me well on occasions and hasn’t served me well on many occasions. Now, at this stage, when you sort of balance it, I think it has done me more harm than good," Manjrekar said while talking to ESPNCricinfo. 

Manjrekar recently found himself in a spot of bother as he left out India's Ravichandran Ashwin from his all-time greatest XI. The former cricketer had to face severe criticism as fans on Twitter took umbrage to Ashwin's snub, despite the veteran spinner picking 409 wickets in Tests so far. 

“Social media has been a beast that I have not been able to tame or understand. I’ve tried different techniques, but yeah still trying to understand the dynamics of social media,” Manjrekar added.

Manjrekar faces netizens' wrath

Recently, Sanjay Manjrekar had once again made waves because of an alleged leaked DM with a social media user where he has mocked Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja saying that he doesn't understand English. The Twitter user was unhappy with Sanjay Manjrekar's recent claim. He stated that spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is not one of the all-time greats as he hasn't registered a fifer in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand & Australia) countries. Responding to Manjrekar's claim, the user said that the commentator shouldn't be taken seriously because he is only famous for his 'rubbish' tweets and opinions. He also stated that Manjrekar wasn't even 10% of the player Ashwin is.

Manjrekar was unhappy with the criticism he received, which is why he responded to the Twitter user and what followed was a war of words. In their conversation, the Twitter user pointed out how his "bits and pieces" comment on Jadeja was termed as "verbal diarrhoea" by the Saurashtra-based cricketer. That's when Manjrekar replied, saying that Jadeja doesn’t know English, so he did not know the actual meaning of bits and pieces. The cricketer-turned-commentator also claimed that somebody spelled verbal diarrhoea for Jadeja, thus mocking the Indian all-rounder.