The BCCI has officially decided on the names of the seven Indian commentators who will be a part of the commentary panel in the 13th edition of the IPL which is set to begin from 19th September 2020 in UAE. The seven commentators who have been picked include the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle, and Anjum Chopra.
Sanjay Manjrekar is a prominent name which has been omitted from the list. He has been a part of the IPL commentary panel since the first edition of the tournament. He was sacked by the BCCI in March 2020 just before the three-match ODI series against South Africa. It is speculated that this came after he engaged in a verbal battle with Ravindra Jadeja as he called him “bits and pieces” during the World Cup last year.
Manjrekar had written an email to BCCI a month ago asking them to reinstate him as the commentator for the 2020 edition of the IPL, it looks like the Board is not keen on taking him back. BCCI is planning to divide the group of seven commentators into three panels, one for each of the three venues. Also, they will be placed in two biosecure bubbles, one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai. With the quarantine rules being relaxed for Abu Dhabi, the commentators will all fly to the emirates on the 10th of September and quarantine for 7 days.
