Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons the match referee, Pradeep Jeyaprakashdaran, must have gotten scared during the infamous match between India A and Sri Lanka A at Dambulla. Sooryavanshi was involved in an altercation with Sri Lankan A player Vishen Halambage.

The prodigy batter had come under scrutiny after he had shoved away the Sri Lankan player following India A’s loss in the Super Over clash.

However, Sooryavanshi bounced back strongly despite the controversy as he smashed a magnum opus knock of 94 runs off just 29 balls. He scored the fastest List A half-century, taking just 11 deliveries to get to the personal milestone.

Manjrekar said verbal battles are fine on the cricket field but physical contact the opposition player is certainly a big no.

“Had he just gotten into a verbal fight, that would have been okay, but there was physical contact, and that is a big deal, according to me. The Sri Lankan referee must have gotten scared because it was an Indian player, I mean no fine, nothing, only the Sri Lankan players were warned and fined. I don’t think they handled this situation well, I just want to vent my frustration here,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on the Sony Sports Network.

Manjrekar reckons it is imperative for the BCCI to guide Sooryavanshi on the right path.

“I am not going to be anti-Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and I won’t start hating him. I completely understand what he has done. But as people who are custodians of the game, you also have to react to that. You can’t show that it is okay. I mean, no action was taken against him, nothing at all. Not even an official warning, or a fine, just nothing. The Sri Lankan officials were under pressure, because when India wanted a super over in bad light, they allowed it. BCCI should nip it in the bud, but I don’t think Vaibhav will do it again, because he knew himself that what he did was not right,” Manjrekar added.

Sooryvanshi is part of India’s T20I squad for the upcoming UK tour.