In 2014, Maria Sharapova became a topic of interest for Indians. And not in a good way.
In fact, it was probably in the worst way possible, the reminder of which the tennis player would get many times in the years to come.
Anyhow, so it all started when, after a Wimbledon match, she was asked if she knew Sachin Tendulkar, who was present to watch the game.
To this, Sharapova bluntly replied, “I don’t”. These two words proved to be very costly for her as 1 billion Indians took serious offense to the matter.
People couldn’t believe that Sharapova did not know about the God of cricket and went as far as demanding an apology.
The matter got so out of hand that Sachin had to address it himself. A report from Hindustan Times quoted him as saying:
Her comment (was) not disrespectful, maybe she doesn’t follow cricket.
Now, while Sachin didn’t make a big deal out of this, his fans swore never to forget it. And so, when Sharapova got involved in the doping scandal in 2016, the “knew it” comments started pouring it.
Sharapova was found guilty of taking meldonium, a substance that was banned by the tennis authorities. She said she wasn’t aware of the rule and held a press conference for the same, but Indians didn’t care much about that.
Though more recently, she got an apology from the Indians, after Sachin Tendulkar tweeted about the farmers’ protests.
The tweet was very similar to the one posted by many celebrities and people criticised the cricket legend for not taking a stand.
We don’t let go of things very easily, do we?