Sachin Tendulkar thanks PM Modi for promoting cricket

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for promoting cricket during the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

"Thank you for promoting cricket, @narendramodi Ji. A good example of cricket diplomacy during the @cricketworldcup. Hoping to see Maldives on the map soon," Tendulkar tweeted.

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His remarks come after PM's gesture of gifting a cricket bat signed by the Indian team to "ardent cricket fan" and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Saturday.

"Connected by cricket! My friend, President @ibusolih is an ardent cricket fan, so I presented him a cricket bat that has been signed by #TeamIndia playing at the #CWC19," Modi had tweeted on Saturday.

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This gesture came after Modi held delegation-level talks with Solih after touching down in the island-nation on Saturday afternoon. This trip to the Maldives was the Prime Minister's first overseas visit after being re-elected.

He was accorded a grand ceremonial welcome upon his arrival in the Maldives, which included a performance by a dance troupe donning the traditional Maldivian attire.

Speaking to ANI, Maldives' Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment of Maldives, Ahmed Mahloof said, "We received a lot of support from the Indian govt in area of youth and sports. We had a successful meeting with BCCI and we expect they will help us develop cricket here. India's support would mean a lot to us."

"Like Afghanistan Cricket Board was adopted by BCCI, we have the expectation that BCCI will help us in the area of cricket. Soon we will work out a strategic plan for sports with technical support from India," he added.