Hindi cinema star Farhan Akhtar stood firmly by Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun by saying that the word ‘nepotism’ should not be thrown at the young cricketer.
Arjun was bought by Mumbai Indians for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in the Indian Premier League auction recently. However, many on social media have questioned Arjun’s cricket abilities and claimed that the only reason why Arjun was picked up by MI was because he is Sachin’s son.
“I feel I should say this about #Arjun_Tendulkar. We frequent the same gym & I’ve seen how hard he works on his fitness, seen his focus to be a better cricketer. To throw the word ‘nepotism’ at him is unfair & cruel. Don’t murder his enthusiasm & weigh him down before he’s begun,” Farhan tweeted.
Besides Farhan, former Team India pacer and MI’s director of cricket operations Zaheer Khan also defender Arjun and said that he is a hardworking kid who is keen on learning.
“I have spent a lot of time in the nets, trying to teach him some tricks of the trade, he is a hardworking kid, he is keen on learning, it is an exciting part. The added pressure of being Sachin Tendulkar’s son will always be on him, it is something he needs to live with, the environment of the team will help him. It will help him become a good cricketer, how many times a youngster gets picked in the auction and everyone is talking about him, he has to prove himself and he has to show everyone he has the goods,” Zaheer said.
Defending IPL champions MI also picked up Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jimmy Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen and Piyush Chawla at the auction.
PNN