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Amid unprecedented political lobbying for the Bharat Ratna, former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar said Sachin Tendulkar should be given the country's highest civilian honour.
"If any one has to be given Bharat Ratna it is Sachin Tendulkar, since it is he who deserves [it] the most," said Wadekar, who joined former cricketers in showering encomiums on the 35-year-old batting maestro shortly after he belted his 39th Test century, in the fourth Test against Australia, in Adelaide, on Thursday.
The suggestion came with just a day left for the announcement of the national Awards.
However, no one has been awarded the Bharat Ratna for the last five years. Political parties have been lobbying since the last month for the Ratna to be conferred on their leaders, and the names proposed
include former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Kanshi Ram, M Karunanidhi and Karpoori Thakur.
Wadekar's suggestions came four days after visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in New Delhi that he would recommend Tendulkar for knighthood.
'I would like to see some of the great players of the modern era--like Sachin Tendulkar -- proposed for honorary awards so that the British nation can salute their achievements,' Brown had said.
If that happens, the little master could be the first Indian sports knight.