Upset with Tendulkar, scores of Malayalee netizens regret criticism of Sharapova for not knowing him

Offended by SachinTendulkar's tweet on farmers' protest, scores of Keralitesflooded tennis star Maria Sharpova's social media pages withmessages, apologising for trolling her in 2015 after she hadin an interview pleaded ignorance about the cricket icon.

While most messages were apologetic of their previouscomments critical of the former World No.1 and lashed out atTendulkar for his tweet, a few even invited her to come toGod's Own Country to enjoy its scenic splendour and attend theiconic Thrissur Pooram once the coronavirus pandemic ended.

''Sharapova, you were right about Sachin, that he is not aperson of quality that you should know,'' a social media usercommented in Malayalam, as was hundreds of other messages inthe south Indian language.

The 33-year old multiple grand slam winner on Wednesdayposted a tweet, saying ''Anyone else got their years confused?''after her twitter and Facebook page got flooded with commentsin Malayalam once again like in 2015.

The netizens were upset with Tendulkar, who along withseveral Bollywood and other cricket stars rallied around thegovernment in its pushback against support from several globalcelebrities to the farmers' protests against new farm laws.

''India's sovereignty cannot be compromised. Externalforces can be spectators but not participants. Indians knowIndia and should decide for India. Let's remain united as anation,'' Tendulkar had tweeted.

Known as God of Cricket among his fans, the masterblaster had posted the message as part of identical tweets onIndia's unity posted by celebrities in response tointernational pop star Rihanna expressing solidarity with thefarmers' stir.

Though the tweet of Tendulkar attracted over 2.7 lakhlikes, it did not go down well with a large number ofTwitterati. Scores of Keralites, including his fans, hit outat their 'God' and endorsed Sharpova's earlier remark abouthim.

The Russian tennis star had faced the ire of Malayalees in2015 following her comment in an interview that she did notknow Tendulkar.

But many were back on her wall since Wednesday,apologising for their ''crude behaviour'' six years ago.

Over the thousands of comments in Malayalam, all had asimilar pattern of expressing regret to Sharapova for havingabused her earlier.

''I am sorry, Maria, the legend. We knew Sachin as aplayer. But we didn't knew him as a person. You were right andsorry for commenting bad on your FB post,'' another user said.

One person offered her shawarma and mouth wateringKuzhimanthi (a type of biryani) as part of peace offering andapologised saying, ''I am the sorry'', borrowing words from aMalayalam movie.

Another said: ''One truck load of apologies, sister. Wedidn't have your foresightedness. Time proved that you wereright.'' NefilNappy, another user, said ''we are sorry for cyberbullying''. PTI RRT UDVS VS