“Rahul Dravid was right when he declared that day,” a fan replied to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. “I loved you more than Dhoni, but today you have lost a fan and thousands from Punjab and Haryana,” was another. A torrent of similar tweets — accusing Tendulkar of having taken a pro-government stance in the farm bills issue — were made in reply to the Master Blaster’s tweet on the farmers’ protest earlier this week.
The flak was unprecedented for Tendulkar, a cricketing icon who has always chosen to stay away from any political controversy.