Fun to remember how Dean Jones and I riled up Sidhu, recalls Sanjay Manjrekar

The shocking demise of former Aussie batsman Dean Jones has sent shock waves in the cricket world with many still finding it difficult to decipher that the cricket pundit is no more. The 59-year-old, who was in Mumbai for doing Star Sports select dugout show for the 2020 IPL, had a massive cardiac arrest yesterday. Cricket analyst and a former colleague of Dean Jones, India's Sanjay Manjrekar paid tribute to him and revealed that they became good friends from co-commentators.

Manjrekar also very fondly remembers how Jones remains his only international scalp and stated how Deano would always be thinking on his feet with all the cricketing insights. He was a man, who had known the art of keeping everyone happy and loved having debates, opined Manjrekar.

"It was devastating, to say the least, to hear of the sudden passing away of Dean Jones. Not only was he my only international wicket, he was a good friend too; not just a colleague in the commentary circuit, but a friend. He made me happy, like he did most people. He always had theories and yes, he loved a debate," Manjrekar wrote in his column for TOI.

The former Indian batsman also recalled how once he and Dean Jones had riled up Sidhu, who had turned red-faced after a prolonged debate regarding the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar. 

"His mind was always ticking and he loved to think aloud. He also did not take himself too seriously with these observations and ideas of his. We have had some great laughs together. The one I remember best was how we both pre-planned a strategy to rile up Navjot Singh Sidhu on the Pakistan tour. Dean Jones and I launched a two-pronged attack on Sidhu on how Tendulkar was not as great as he thought. In the end, we both burst out laughing when we saw Sidhu turn a deep red colour like his turban defending the undoubted greatness of Tendulkar. Will dearly miss you Deano! RIP," Manjrekar wrote.