By: Shubham Ghosh
Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who made his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last Sunday (16) for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, picked up his maiden wicket in the second game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday (18).
The 23-year-old left-arm seamer later received the Mumbai Indians’ dressing room Player of the Match award from his father as his team won the match by 14 runs, its third win on the trot. Sachin was happy that there is at least one IPL wicket in the Tendulkar family now.
"At least there's a wicket in our family now." ? – Sachin Tendulkar
It's an awww-filled content day – Arjun receives his POTM ?️ from his father. ?? #OneFamily #SRHvMI #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #IPL2023 #TATAIPL @sachin_rt MI TV pic.twitter.com/l03lt1Aw8x
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 19, 2023
Tendulkar, who bowled the final over of the match with 20 to defend, did it successfully and picked Hyderabad’s final wicket in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He conceded only five runs in the over to finish with the impressive figure of one for 18 runs in 2.5 overs.
As Sachin, who played for Mumbai Indians in the first six seasons (2008-13) and currently is its mentor, gave the team’s dressing room honour to Arjun and said jokingly, “At least there is a wicket in our family now”.
The senior Tendulkar, although has 201 international wickets besides more than 34,000 runs, failed to pick any in the IPL during his playing days despite bowling 36 deliveries in 78 games.
“Obviously it was great getting my first IPL wicket. I just had to focus on what was in hand, the plan and execute it. Our plan (in the last over) was just to bowl wide and get the long boundary (on the off side) into play, make the batsman hit it to the longer side,” Arjun said after the game.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, who has led his side to five title wins, the most for any captain, lauded Arjun’s confidence and keenness to contribute to the team’s prospects.