Former Indian cricketers-turned-commentators Sanjay Manjrekar and Murali Karthik were involved in an ugly exchange on the air during the third day’s play between India and Sri Lanka. The conversation turned ugly when Karthik commented about Manjrekar’s pout. “A gentle request and a big request from one and all here: you have the pout of the century, but because of your pout, we are not able to understand what you say. So, please limit that pout,” the former Indian spinner said during the break.

Manjrekar hit back at Karthik by asking the director to cut the camera towards Ajinkya Rahane, who is commentating on a Test match for the first time. Rahane recently retired from professional cricket.

“That’s a bad one. Can we cut..can we make this split screen and shift the camera to the other guy because he is a much more pleasant person to talk to, and he has got a much more pleasant face as well. I just wonder, ‘superb, superb, superb,’ Murali Kartik’s voice, looking at himself in the mirror,” Manjrekar responded.

“I don’t look myself in the mirror. That’s you. That’s only you,” Karthik said. Manjrekar hit back at Karthik before defusing the situation before it could escalate further. “There is an incentive to look in the mirror. For you, I can understand it’s not very motivating. Anyway, we’re both going to cross lines here, and social media will have a field day,” he said.

Manjrekar was involved in an on-air spat with Harsha Bhogle in 2019. Earlier that year, Ravindra Jadeja called out Manjrekar for his ‘bits and pieces’ comment during the ODI World Cup. He was dropped from the commentary panel in 2020 and didn’t do commentary in IPL.

The third day’s play of the first Test ended with India in a dominant position. The visiting team bowled out Sri Lanka for 284 to gain a 178-run lead. The day’s play ended early due to dark clouds.

A play of nearly 70 overs has been washed out thus far due to rain in Galle. India will aim to score more than 200 runs in two sessions before declaring the innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul will open the innings on the fourth day.