Sachin deserve for Bharat Ratna :Bhutia

Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia on Monday supported the growing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna to champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar, but did not favour any campaign for it.

"I definitely think he deserves it. But people should not campaign for it. Even Sachin would not like people to campaign. A campaign would not justify the award," Bhutia said.

"Everyone knows what he has done for the country. His records and achievements speak for itself. So Sachin deserves the greatest of the greatest award," Bhutia added.

Sachin has contributed to the game of cricket what Maradona had done to football, Bhutia said.

"Unfortunately cricket is not played around the world, else he would have been as popular as Beckham or Ronaldo. By individual talent and contribution to the game, Sachin has contributed as much to cricket as Maradona had to football," Bhutia said.