Manjrekar slams ICC, BCCI over Jaiswal-Sooryavanshi row

The former Indian batter and renowned commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar, has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to be stricter with young players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and not let them get away with such behaviour.

Both of the young opening batters of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) were in the news recently after heated exchanges in two different series involving Sri Lanka, where they got physical with the opposition players.

"You train them to repeat such behaviour" — Manjrekar's full message to ICC & BCCI

Manjrekar has been doing the commentary work during the two-match Test series between India and Sri Lanka. He saw Yashasvi Jaiswal getting involved in the heated argument with the pacer, Asitha Fernando, during the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

“Dear @ICC and @BCCI, Vaibhav for Ind A recently & now Jaiswal. If you keep letting them get away with such behaviour, you train them to repeat such behaviour. It’s not good for the sport & crucially their own future too.” Manjrekar wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Manjrekar was also present in Dambulla when the incident with Sooryavanshi happened during the game between India A and Sri Lanka A in the unofficial ODI series.

From a head clash to a shove — The on-field incidents that sparked the criticism

Both Jaiswal and Fernando were found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for the Player and the Player Support Personnel, which is related to physical contact with a player, player support personnel, umpire, match referee, or any other person. Jaiswal was fined 25% of his match fee and was handed one demerit point.

The incident happened on the opening day of the second Test match when Jaiswal was dismissed by Fernando, who had a few words with the batter, who came back from the middle of his return and got physical with the bowler.

It was the contest between India A and Sri Lanka A in the tri-series when Sooryavanshi turned around and charged back towards the opponent. He appeared to shove Vishen Halambage, prompting a brief scuffle with the wicket-keeper, Niroshan Dickwella, and other teammates stepping in to separate them.