No entry for Oz team in Maharashtra: Bal Thackeray

Pune, Jan 13: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday, Jan 13, said his party would not allow the Australia team to play cricket in Maharashtra.

His statement comes in wake of recent attacks on Indians in Australia.

Expressing anguish over the violence, Thackeray said, "Our boys are being stabbed, burnt and shot at in that country and still our cricketers have no qualms in playing with them. Do they have any national pride?."

"I would have been happy if our cricketers too had shown similar self-respect in the matter. But cricket has become a game of money and self-respect and patriotism have taken a back-seat," Thackeray commented.

The Sena supremo also praised film actor Amitabh Bachchan in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

He said, "Amitabh Bachchan displayed a patriotic spirit when he politely refused an award in his honour from Queensland University in protest against the incidents in Australia."

OneIndia News