Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Shiv Sena hit out at the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government for not giving a state funeral to ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s coach Ramakant Acharekar. In this regard, senior party leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday urged Tendulkar to boycott all government programs henceforth.
“Why wasn’t Padmashree and Dronacharya awardee Ramakant Acharekar given state funeral and respect by the Maharashtra government? The Government has shown complete disregard towards Ramakant Acharekar. Sachin Tendulkar should boycott government programs henceforth,” he tweeted. Acharekar passed away at the age of 87 here on Wednesday. The Dronacharya awardee, who has blessed the Indian cricket with the likes of Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli, used to train cricketers at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Last year on Guru Purnima, the master blaster along with Atul Ranade had met and paid respects to their guru, Achrekar. “Today, #GuruPurnima, is the day we remember those who have taught us to be better versions of ourselves. Achrekar Sir, I couldn’t have done all this without you. Don’t forget to thank your gurus and take their blessings. #AtulRanade and I just did,” Tendulkar had said. In the same year, the master blaster posted a video on Twitter as a tribute to his Coach on Teacher’s Day.
“Back in my school days, I used to play only for the junior team and our senior team was playing the Harris Shield finals at the Wankhede Stadium,” Tendulkar said. “And our coach Ramakant Achrekar Sir had organised a practice match for me. He had told me to go there after school and bat at number four. He said he had spoken to the captain and you would not need to field. That used to be my training. That was important because you needed to figure out your game there and figure out how to score runs in the middle,” he had added.