There was much brouhaha when a 16 year old boy was selected in the Indian cricket team. The selection for the cricket team which had to tour Pakistan happened in 1989, the boy who debuted on that tour is today known as the ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar. Many issues were cooked up at the time when Sachin Tendulkar made his debut. His age, the deadly pace attack of Wasim and Waqar etc were raked up to prove that Sachin was not ready and destined to fail. Such issues, and some more, were raised when Sachin’s son, Arjun Tendulkar was selected for the U-19 cricket team for the Sri Lanka tour. There was added pressure on Arjun Tendulkar to prove himself against the charges of favoritism and nepotism levied against him. Arjun proved to his father who had backed him, the selectors who had chosen him and his coach Rahul Dravid right by taking his first wicket on his debut match. Arjun’s first international wicket was Sri Lankan opener Kamil Mishara. On the last delivery of his second over, Arjun trapped the Sri Lankan opener. He ended the day with satisfactory figures of five overs, 18 runs, and one wicket.
Arjun who idolizes Australian left arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc and England all rounder Ben Stokes, has silenced his critics. Prior to his selection in the Indian U-19 team, he has proved his mettle in the Harris Shield tournament by taking eight wickets in his debut match. He has also proven to be handy with the bat in his debut at the Spirit of Cricket Global Challenge in Australia. He played for the Cricketer’s Club of India against Hong Kong Cricket Club in a T20 format game and surprised everyone with his all round performance by scoring a quick-fire 48 off 27 deliveries and taking four wickets. His performances in local tournaments have been noteworthy and the graph of his progress is yet to take a dip, even after he suffered from two back to back stress injuries which kept him away from cricket for an entire year. He has played in various locations around the globe from London to Australia, and has had the privilege of learning from great bowlers and cricketing minds such as Wasim Akram and Lasith Malinga amongst others from around the globe. His determination to play is revealed every time a country or a club is visiting Mumbai. He bowls to great contemporary batsmen and yesteryears legends and hones his skills whenever he gets the chance.
He has been given the best possible training and is currently receiving coaching and guidance from the best possible coach today, Rahul Dravid. With the size of his determination and the efforts he is willing to make coupled with the guidance he is receiving, such success stories will keep coming surely. Arjun Tendulkar, by his performance, has shut his critics up and has proved that he is well suited to carry on the legacy of his father. Not everyone, after all, is a Rahul Gandhi by default. There are people who can carry on the legacy of their fathers like Mukesh Ambani did after Dhirubhai Ambani. Arjun Tendulkar seems to be on that track only.