Tendulkar fans fume over CA's birthday wish for Fleming

Fans of Sachin Tendulkar were left fuming Tuesday after Cricket Australia poked fun at the "little master" -- revered as a quasi-god in India -- on his 45th birthday. The board posted a video of retired Australian paceman Damien Fleming -- who shares a birthday with Tendulkar -- bowling the Indian great with a quick delivery.

A yorker on birthday. | @kitAnurag https://t.co/lAKVWYtixP

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 24, 2018

"Some @bowlologist gold from the man himself - happy birthday, Damien Fleming!" Cricket Australia quipped in its tongue-in-cheek message. But the humour was lost on Tendulkar's millions of fans on the subcontinent, who seemed to either miss the joke or balk at the perceived slight on such a hallowed day.

A yorker on birthday. | @kitAnurag https://t.co/lAKVWYtixP

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 24, 2018

"No matter how many bans, Australians will never change," wrote Shashank, a Tendulkar fan, dredging up the recent bans handed to top Australian players over a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. "Hi, could you please check the full footage of that match to know that @bowlologist got swing because of any sandpaper or sugar ?????" wrote Arjun, another fan, also alluding to the affair that saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft suspended. Tendulkar -- who is followed by almost 26 million fans on Twitter and worshipped by many more in India -- has not commented on the video.

#HappyBirthdaySachin | Sachin Tendulkar fans are 'not happy' with Cricket Australia's birthday tweet for Damien Fleming, here's why https://t.co/wgvc1L47Gh pic.twitter.com/GUULejATa3

— DNA (@dna) April 24, 2018

His birthday was celebrated across the country, with many of his ardent followers cutting cakes in rituals given airtime on Indian television. Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer of all time in both Test matches and one-day internationals, retired after playing in 200 Tests in which he scored 15,921 runs.