Days after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray lashed out at Sachin Tendulkar, an article in its mouthpiece, Saamna, has again targeted the Master Blaster.
Underlining that Sachin has not made any sacrifices for the country, the article said: "Sachin's exploits are restricted to BCCI and record books and has not won Mumbai for Maharashtra."
The article said: "Sachin is a great cricketer, but doesn't match Lokmanya Tilak. He does not measure up to any Marathi revolutionary."
"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," the article said.
Sachin has never supported Marathi cause in sports; he could not even help Vinod Kambli stay in the team, the article added.
"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.
Thackeray's remarks on November 16 had evoked angry reactions from a host of political leaders as also the BCCI, who came down heavily on the Shiv Sena chief for criticising Tendulkar, saying his statement was just right and nobody could take objection to it.
(With PTI inputs)