Star Sports announces star-studded commentary panel for IPL 2020, no comeback for Sanjay Manjrekar - see list

There was no place for Sanjay Manjrekar in the star-studded commentary panel for IPL 2020. The noted commentator was sacked by BCCI earlier this year.

Key Highlights

• Star Sports has named a star-studded commentary panel for IPL 2020

• The tournament will be televised in number of languages in over 100 countries

• There was no place for Sanjay Manjrekar in the commentary panel for IPL 2020

Sanjay Manjrekar will not be travelling to UAE for IPL 2020 as he has not been included in the commentary panel. Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the league, announced the star-studded commentary panel for IPL on Sunday. Veterans Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Bishop, Harsha Bhogle and others are set to share their views on the game during IPL.

Star Sports also named a separate panel for Hindi and other languages. There was no place for Manjrekar in any of the lists. The star-studded panel also includes Mark Nicholas, who now mostly commentates in the home matches of South Africa. JP Duminy, who played for few franchises and also led Delhi Capitals, is also part of the panel.

Lisa Sthalekar and Anjum Chopra are two women commentators on the list. Sthalekar, an ICC Hall of Famer, has been part of IPL commentary panel in past. Chopra, the former India captain, is considered as the voice of women's cricket in India.

Gavaskar, 71, will be travelling to UAE for the league. The likes of Brett Lee, Dean Jones, Brian Lara, Graeme Swann and Scott Styris will be calling the game from Mumbai. The dugout commentators focus more on various aspects of the game and they analyse every point in detail.

Former India chief selectors Kris Srikkanth and MSK Prasad will be commentating in Tamil and Telugu, respectively. Former India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar is part of the Hindi commentary team. Check out the list of commentators -

Why no Manjrekar?

While there is no official word regarding Manjrekar, it looks like the BCCI is in no mood to take him back. He was axed by the board before the ODI series against South Africa in March. A noted commentator, Manjrekar was called out by Ravindra Jadeja during 2019 World Cup. The duo later buried the hatchet.

In November 2019, Manjrekar was once again criticised after he questioned Harsha Bhogle's credentials. Considered as the voice of Indian cricket, Bhogle didn't play domestic cricket. Manjrekar wrote to BCCI to reinstate him in the panel for IPL 2020 but there was no place for him.