# Manjrekar, Karthik in ugly on-air spat during India-Sri Lanka Test 2026-08-17T18:36:54+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Former India cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Murali Karthik had an ugly exchange on live television during the third day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Galle. The spat began when Karthik took aim at Manjrekar's pout on air. "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," Karthik said, according to Times Now News. Manjrekar retaliated by asking the director to cut the camera towards Ajinkya Rahane, who is commentating for the first time after retiring. "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," Manjrekar said. When Karthik replied, Manjrekar warned, "We're both going to cross lines here, and social media will have a field day." The exchange ended before it could escalate further, reported both outlets. Manjrekar has a history of on-air spats, including one with Harsha Bhogle in 2019. Sports NDTV noted that Ravindra Jadeja had earlier called out Manjrekar for his comments during the 2019 ODI World Cup. On the field, India bowled out Sri Lanka for 284 to take a 178-run lead at stumps on day three. Rain had washed out almost 70 overs in Galle. India will resume batting on day four with Yashasvi Jaiswal and K. L. Rahul at the crease. ## Coverage - timesnownews.com - sports.ndtv.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T02:26:08+00:00. Tags: Galle, India vs Sri Lanka Test, Murali Karthik, Sanjay Manjrekar Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/manjrekar-and-karthik-in-ugly-on-air-spat-during-india-sri-lanka-test/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/manjrekar-and-karthik-in-ugly-on-air-spat-during-india-sri-lanka-test/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/