Sachin never helped Marathi players: Sena

Continuing its attack on Sachin Tendulkar, Shiv Sena today said there was no instance of him helping any Marathi cricketer while Sunil Gavaskar was a “genuine Maharashtrian” and had given Test caps to many players from the state during his tenure as India captain.

In an article in party mouthpiece Saamna, Sena MP Sanjay Raut while comparing Tendulkar to Gavaskar, alleged, “There has been no instance of Sachin extending a helping hand to other Marathi cricketers. Forget others, he did not even support Vinod Kambli. “In contrast, Gavaskar when he captained India, had half the team drawn from Mumbai and Maharashtra. He gave Test caps to many Marathi players including Suru Naik and Zulphikar Parkar at least for one match,” he said, while also acknowledging Tendulkar’s greatness as a cricketer.

“In this context, Gavaskar is a genuine ‘Maharashtrian’ and the whole country loves him even now in the same way,” the article claimed.

“Players like Sachin have become rich because of game of cricket. Sachin’s wealth has crossed Rs 200-crore mark. We expect Sachin to be as ‘proud’ of Maharashtra as Saurav Ganguly is of Bengal,” it said.

“Rahul Dravid too is a Marathi player but he is loyal to Karnataka,” Raut said. The latest salvo came after Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on November 16 accused the cricket icon of hurting Marathi sentiments with his “Mumbai for all” remark.