Making his own Mumbai Indians all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, is working to build a more fulfilling cricket career.
He turned heads Tuesday with his performance in the second round of the Dr (Capt) K Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament, an invitational competition held by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Arjun faced a formidable Maharashtra team while competing for Goa in the match. On the first ball, the left-arm bowler dismissed opening batsman Anirudha Sabale. He led the bowling attack from front.
That was only the beginning for Arjun, who went on to dismiss Mahesh Mhaske, Sabale’s opening partner, LBW. Other players were boosted by Goa’s amazing start against Maharashtra, which was made possible by Arjun.
After Yash Kshirsagar was dismissed by Arjun’s teammate Lakhmesh Pawane, Tendulkar claimed his third wicket of the session, smashing Digvijay Patil’s stumps to leave Maharashtra in complete chaos at 15-4.
Mehul Patel then made an effort to keep the innings together as Maharashtra began to establish a tenuous partnership. However, Mehul found it difficult to get enough help from the other team. In the 39th over of the innings, Tendulkar made a comeback and removed Mehul for 54, his fourth wicket and Maharashtra’s ninth.
Tendulkar then finished with five wickets when he got No. 11 batsman Nadeem Shaikh caught by Deepraj Gaonkar. In the process, Maharashtra was pushed out for a little 136.
Arjun came out to bat at No. 9 and contributed 36 runs off 44 balls as Goa amassed 333 runs with the bat in the first innings. The top-scoring batsmen for Goa in the innings were Mohit Redkar (58), Abhinav Tejrana (77), and Darshan Misal (61).
Tendulkar has previously participated in two Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competitions for Maharashtra on the home circuit. In 2022, he relocated to Goa. After a seven-month break, Arjun has resumed playing competitive cricket.