Mumbai Indians’ Arjun Tendulkar is no stranger to English conditions.
The left-arm pacer also has experience of bowling against various national teams in England. He was one of the net bowlers who bowled against the Indian women’s team before the 2017 ICC World Cup final.
Son of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun had once injured England hotshot Jonny Bairstow with a foot-crushing yorker, forcing the batsman to miss an entire practice session.
He recently made his senior Mumbai team debut when he played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the national T20 championship, against Haryana.
Before joining Mumbai Indians, Arjun was a regular at their practice nets.
During India’s tour of England in 2018, Arjun had the privilege of bowling against Team India during their practice sessions. He bowled to the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and many others.
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Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardane stressed that the franchise picked Arjun purely on skills.
“We have looked at it purely on a skills-basis, I mean, there is going to be a big tag on his head, because of Sachin, but luckily he is a bowler, not a batsman, so I think, Sachin will be very proud, if he could bowl like Arjun,” Jayawardane said at a virtual press conference held after the auction.
“So, I think it is going to be learning process for Arjun, he just started playing for Mumbai and now with the franchise, so he will learn the ropes, he will evolve, he is still young but a very focussed young man, so you have to give him sometime and hopefully not put lot of pressure on him either.
“…Just let him evolve as he evolves around and work his way up, that is what we are there to help him to do,” added the Sri Lankan legend.
PNN/Agencies