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He may be regarded as the ‘God of Cricket’ and aficionados of the sport may consider him the best batsman of his generation, but the name Sachin Tendulkar still doesn’t ring a bell for all sportspersons.
Tennis queen Maria Sharapova is one of those who does not even know who Tendulkar is.
Considering that Tendulkar, over the last few years, is a regular visitor at Wimbledon, and a good friend of Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer, it comes as a surprise that the Russian icon who has five Grand Slam titles to her name is ignorant about the man who has broken almost every batting record in cricket.
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Tendulkar was in the Royal Box at Wimbledon with former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss on Saturday. There were other sporting legends too, including football legends David Beckham and Sir Bobby Charlton, and golfer Ian Poulter.
When Sharapova was asked at her post-match press conference whether she knew that a cricket icon had come to watch her play, the she replied that she had met Beckham a few times but wasn't familiar with Tendulkar.
Tennis World reports that when Sharapova was told: 'Sachin Tendulkar was the other person who came in at the same time as David. Do you know who Sachin is?'
The French Open winner flatly replied: 'I don't!'
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Tendulkar's fans are not amused.
They 'ripped into' Sharapova's official Facebook account.
'Who is Maria Sharapova' has also become the top trend on Twitter, resulting in #whoismariasharapova trending worldwide.
Sharapova, though, could be excused for being oblivious of the greatness of the Indian cricket icon, as cricket’s global appeal when compared to that of football or tennis is miniscule.