Imran Khan Told Me Not to be Anti-Pakistani: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar shared anecdotes about Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Imran Khan.

Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar.

(Photo: Ankita Das/The Quint)

“Every individual lives a uniquely different life. He does not need to be famous to share his life experiences,” writes Sanjay Manjrekar in the author’s note of his autobiography titled Imperfect.

However, anecdotes that the former India cricketer has shared in his book are equally enjoyable for every cricket enthusiast in the country.

In the book’s second chapter, titled ‘The Wonder Years’, Manjrekar writes about the time veteran Sunil Gavaskar came all the way to the venue of his ongoing match to deliver a bat that his father Vijay Manjrekar had ordered for him from England.

Just imagine a guy at the prime of his career who is a superstar that the country worships takes the pain to come to Cross Maidan in his car and gets a bat that he had got from England that my father had requested him to get.

Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar – who played over 100 internationals for India – spoke about the camaraderie between cricketers of different generations, including one between Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar and him.

“There was a big age gap between the three of us, but it was amazing that all three of us would hang around together in the evenings after the match and would have fun,” said Manjrekar. On a certain occasion when India was touring New Zealand, Tendulkar and he had conspired to play a prank on their captain Vengsarkar.

Dilip Vengsarkar, despite his age and seniority was, unbelievably, scared of staying alone in his room at night. He actually liked having roommates, which was the norm at the time, but Dilip being a senior player was always given a single room. There was this resort we were staying in New Zealand. It was pretty quiet, surrounded by trees and stuff. We were taking a walk after dinner when Sachin and I looked at each other and said you know, let’s tell a scary story and make Dilip’s life miserable.

Sanjay Manjrekar

“I then asked Sachin about the lady he saw dressed in a white saree at night. Sachin immediately took the cue and started building on the story. I could see Dilip Vengsarkar walking with us. He was trying to shut out all that was being said. When he realised what we were up to, he said, ‘you people are such rascals, this is something you should not be doing’. And after all that, we went to our respective rooms. Sachin and I were sharing a room and 10 minutes later, we heard a knock. Dilip comes into our room saying, ‘I’ll have to sleep here tonight’.”

Reporter: Vinu Joseph
Video Editor: Kunal Mehra