Jaiswal and Fernando were fined 25 per cent of their match fees and received one demerit point each for their ugly spat, which almost turned physical during Day 1 of the ongoing second Test in Colombo. Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh has thrown his weight behind Sanjay Manjrekar amid criticism over his post demanding stricter punishments for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando . The incident took place after Fernando had dismissed Jaiswal. Jaiswal walked towards Fernando, and the two exchanged words, following which Fernando moved his head towards Jaiswal. In response, Jaiswal leaned in, resulting in their heads making contact.
He also recalled the incident involving teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during the Tri-Nation A Series earlier this year, for which the 15-year-old was handed a minor fine for clashing with Sri Lanka A players.
Taking to X on Wednesday, Manjrekar, however, blasted the BCCI and ICC for “training” players to repeat such behaviour by letting them get away with it, saying that there is no room for physical violence in cricket. The punishment should have been much stricter, according to Manjrekar.
Period,” said Dodda. “Here @sanjaymanjrekar is absolutely right. Why are people trolling him? We saw Paras Dogra getting away after he head-butted Aneesh in the Ranji finals, with just a fine and now Jaiswal too gets away with a fine. If this is the precedent we’re going to set, the days are not far away where we would probably see cricketers involving in fist-fights on the field. You can’t get physical in this game.
However, Manjrekar was criticised by fans on social media, with some even demanding his removal from the commentary team.
