Raj Thackeray comes out in support of Tendulkar

MUMBAI: Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who has in recent days been plagued with controversies, on Wednesday found a supporter in Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, who said people should support him during the bad phase that he is going through.

Speaking to reporters after a function marking the release of a film, Thackeray said, "When Sourav Ganguly was going through a bad patch in his career, West Bengal politicians like Somnath Chatterjee supported him."

"Similarly, when Tendulkar was going through a bad phase in his career he should receive support at least from Maharashtrians," Thackeray said.

Tendulkar, who had a disastrous World Cup, is presently mired in controversy after the BCCI slapped him with a show cause notice for his comments in the media and a recent report stating that the batsman had cut a cake in the shape of the Indian tricolour at the Indian High commission in Jamaica.

A case was filed on Wednesday in an Indore court against him for dishonouring the national flag by cutting the cake shaped in the form of the tricolour.