New Delhi, Mar 2 (IANS): Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar on Wednesday drew sharp criticism from Sports Minister Vijay Goel for calling India's sportstars "illiterate" in his tweet in support of Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur.

Calling the sportspersons India's pride, Goel took to Twitter to respond to Akhtar, which read: "Please don't call our players illiterate. You're a champion in your field and they are champions in their own field. India is proud of them!"

Earlier, Akhtar had voiced support for Gurmehar, who is in the eye of a storm over her stance against student outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.

Akhtar's comments came in the wake of Gurmehar facing criticism from noted sportspersons like cricketer Virender Sehwag and Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt.

"If a hardly literate player or a wrestler troll a pacifist daughter of a martyr its understandable but whats wrong with some educated folks." Akhtar wrote.

Kaur is the daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh, who was killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on August 6, 1999, four days after Pakistani troops withdrew from Kargil.