Arjun Tendulkar has made an impressive start to leave as a member of the first eleven of the Mumbai Indians. He made his IPL debut against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 16 and bowled two overs for 17 runs. In the next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tendulkar was handed a third over when Rohit Sharma asked him to bowl the 20th of the match. He gave just five runs away in the over and took a wicket as well, thus finishing with figures of 1/18.
Tendulkar's debut had created quite a buzz, considering the fact that he is the son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar senior had been the first ever captain of MI and interestingly, never took a wicket in the IPL, something his son has achieved in just his second match. It has to be noted, though, that Tendulkar was a batter first while Arjun is primarily a fast bowler.
Sachin, who is part of the MI camp as the team's mentor, could be seen interacting a number of times with Arjun before both games. The 49-year-old then spoke about his son a couple of times during an "Ask Sachin" session on Twitter. One fan made a split of a picture of a younger Rohit Sharma hugging Sachin while the pair were playing for MI and Arjun hugging Rohit during one of the two games he played. "What comes to your mind when you see these 2 pictures," the fan asked. Sachin replied by saying: "Wish we all were playing together for @mipaltan!"
Another fan asked what professional advice he gave Arjun when the later told him that he wanted to play professional cricket. Tendulkar gave a tongue in cheek reply. "ARE YOU SURE????????" he wrote in his reply. Arjun had said after the victory against SRH that he does discuss the game with his father occassionally. After bowling the tense last over and taking his maiden wicket in IPL, Arjun revealed that he discusses tactics before every game with his father Sachin Tendulkar, who tells him to back what he practices.
{{/usCountry}}Another fan asked what professional advice he gave Arjun when the later told him that he wanted to play professional cricket. Tendulkar gave a tongue in cheek reply. "ARE YOU SURE????????" he wrote in his reply. Arjun had said after the victory against SRH that he does discuss the game with his father occassionally. After bowling the tense last over and taking his maiden wicket in IPL, Arjun revealed that he discusses tactics before every game with his father Sachin Tendulkar, who tells him to back what he practices.
{{/usCountry}}"We talk about cricket, we discuss tactics before the game and he (Sachin Tendulkar) tells me to back what I practise every game," Arjun said in a post-match presentation. Arjun said that he stuck to the plan and bowled how his captain asked him to deliver.
"Obviously it was great getting my first IPL wicket. I just had to focus on what was in hand, the plan and executing it. Our plan was just to bowl wide and get the long boundary into play, make the batsman hit it to the longer side. I love bowling, I am happy to bowl anytime the captain asks me to and just stick to the team plan and give my best," Arjun added.