Cricketer Statements & Political Controversies

1) Sachin Tendulkar And Bal Thackeray

Tendulkar made an innocent statement. He as every other citizen of democratic India expressed his views. He simply said that 'he is proud of being maharatrian , but he is Indian first' , He also said that mumbai belongs to all Indians. What ever he said was perfectly logically , according to constitution and vision of founding fathers of India.

Little did he know that his this statement would fume , another marathi manoos , that is bal thackeray. Bal thackeray slammed tendulkar and advised him to mind his game.

This is not first time that any cricketer's statement has created political debate and controversy.

2) Sourav Ganguly and Mamta Banerjee :


Saurav Ganguly batted for TATA’s saying : “let us support the cause of TATA’s it will revolutionize the state and the future prospects of the state, youth in particular.” Industry is the future of West Bengal” he said “Nano is a new beginning for WB, it will revolutionize the prospects of the state” he said.

Mamata slammed Saurav for speaking out of turn without any knowledge of ground realities. “Does he know where Singur is situated,” she asked “Does he know how many farmers died for the cause of confiscated land in Singur or does he know the number of women raped in Kolkota.”


3) Azharuddin's Infamous Statement :

Azharuddin had all things going for him. Elegant batsman , one of most successful captains of all time and typical rage to riches story. But he entered , the no entry zone in cricket and this is match fixing. He was charged and banned.

In one of his interviews, he claimed that he was being targeted because he was from a minority community. However, this statement backfired badly and invited severe criticism from all parts of the country, including prominent minority community organisations in India. Ultimately, Azharuddin had to apologise publicly and retract his statements.



There are other controversial statements too like vinod kambli sach ka saamna episode , kapil- prabhabkar episode , manjerekar calling sachin selfish episode. But those statements were more personal than political.