All Eyes on Arjun…the Junior Sachin Tendulkar

The T-20 world cup of 2018 or 2020 might be the time when Indian cricket fans see the Junior Tendulkar in action. Step by step, Arjun is getting closer to his ambition of entering into first class cricket. Fans are waiting for the junior's debut into the cricket world and until he does that all eyes will be on him.

Arjun Tendulkar is sure to enter the first class cricket one day and then he will be judged by a yardstick with which the geniuses are always been measured. As of now, all eyes of the Indian cricket fans are following him as he shows maturity in the game, at a very tender age. He has become a popular figure at the age of 12, and has made news on the front page of the national newspaper.

His dad was also smashing records in school cricket at one time. He was smasher of fours and sixes at a very young age. Everyone at the MCA circles knew him very well. He attracted huge crowds and they enjoyed watching him play at the center. By the time Sachin was 13, he was in the Cricket Club of India (CCI) club side. At the age of 15, he had amassed 326* in a Harris Shield game and was a part of the world record unbroken 664-run partnership. He also scored a hundred the same year, on his debut Ranji Trophy match that he played for Mumbai. When he was at the age of 16, he made his debut in the Indian squad. At present, he has in his name all big batting records. Arjun might have heard it many times, from others. And whenever he scores a hundred and takes wickets he will be a step closer to what his dad had achieved earlier. This is what all Indians expect today.

Born on 24^th September 1999, his batting style resembles that of his father. His shots showed a glimpse of father’s legendary batting style. People gathered at the ground saw this young lad batting with an aggressive style. But he couldn’t play for a long time. He was run out because of his partner’s mistake. At this tender age one cannot expect too much from this tiny tot.

Sachin’s son played his first match in Under -13, Cadence Trophy cricket match at Pune on January 22^nd 2010. It was his first national level cricket tournament representing MIG cricket Club. At that time, Chandu Bhatkar and Jagdish Chavan trained him for 5 months at MIG club, Kalanagar.

His dad Sachin after touring England along with Star Cricket Club, in 1988-89 was selected for the Indian team at the age of 16.

Arjun has already toured to South Africa with Worli Cricket Club. The tour itinerary began from Novemeber 2 and ended on 15th. He was the captain of the team with players varying from age 16 to 18 years.

Avinash Kadam of Worli Cricket Club said that Arjun had done exceptionally well when they toured South Africa last year. He was the highest scorer. Arjun is a very keen learner and has been part of the club since last 2 years.

They played 10 matches comprising of 45 overs each with some schools from Johannesburg, Pretoria and Potchefstroom. Kadam pointed saying such trips were very important as most of the cricketers played only in Mumbai. They had no avenues to play in different conditions. A trip like this provided them good exposure and sense of playing on faster wickets.

The 15 year-old is studying at Dhirubhai Ambani School in Bandra-Kurla Complex. He is a left-handed batsman and a good left arm medium pace bowler. He enjoyed playing at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, when he visited Bangaldesh. His father had completed his 44th Test ton against Bangladesh during the first Test there. His mother Anjali Tendulkar got a good chance to watch her son play at the Chittagong cricket ground.

This season – Year 2017, Arjun has impressed his father and team mates thrice with his bowling, as a Under -19 player. He sculpted victory for Mumbai with the win over Railways by a big margin.

In the Under – 19 Cooch Behar trophy he took 5 wickets and led his team to a fantastic win. He remained wicket-less with 0-23 in first innings, but he derailed the opposition with 5 for 44 in the second innings. Railways were all out for 136 in second innings. Mumbai team got the victory by an innings and 103 runs.

Yashasvi Bhupender Jaiswal hit a double hundred with the help of which Mumbai posted 389 in the 1^st innings.

Arjun had picked up 5 wickets against Madhya Pradesh just 3 weeks ago. He had taken 4 wickets against Assam, later. These are some achievements which were lauded by father Sachin. Sachin said that he hasn't been pressurizing or lecturing his son to do better in cricket. Whatever his son does on the field is with his own interest.

Debut for Young Parsee Cricket Club

He made his Kanga League debut for Young Parsee Cricket Club and played against United Cricket Club in the G Division on 8th September 2013. He could make only one run from eleven deliveries when he was stumped off a tricky delivery of off spinner Sanjay Solanki.

Father and son practice before the England test match

On October 28, 2012, Sunday afternoon, the master blaster and his son were seen practicing at Mumbai and getting ready to face the English team. The bilateral series will start from Saturday, November 3, 2012 and after playing 5 ODI's it will end on Jan 27th 2012.

A milestone to remember for Arjun

Saturday, 26th May 2012 was a day to remember. Mumbai Cricket Association held trials for the selection of Under-14 at the Cross Maidan. He hit his maiden hundred when he was just 12 years of age. His fearless stroke-play and fantastic shots, paved way for the grand maiden ton.

He had hit 124 runs to put Khar Gymkhana on top by beating Goregaon Centre by an innings and 21 runs. Thus Khar Gymkhana got a chance to enter the final of the tournament.

In the previous game, he had scored 64 during the MCA summer vacation tournament that also serves as selection trials to the U-14 team. He was a bit disappointed when he was not included in the team that played the Varroc Cup earlier. So, he proved his talent in the match that took place on Saturday.

He gets more lucky when selected for the off season training camp of Mumbai Cricket Association

He was selected to the list of Under-14 probable players for an off season training camp of MCA, a month after he scored his first hundred. With cricket in his blood, Arjun's performance in 2012 summer vacation tournament proved to become very supportive for his cricket career. He scored 250 runs plus in five matches played for Khar centre. It shows his class and hunger for big strides just like his father.

Arjun, the left-handed batsman, after his debut at the national level in January in the Cadence Trophy held at Pune, continued to show his top batting skills. He aims to polish his skills in this training camp. He is a left-arm pace bowler and in the match that took place between Dhirubhai Ambani International School and Jamnabai Narsee School, they beat the Jamnabai Narsee School. He got very good bowling figures of 8-22, on that day i.e., November 2011.

Junior Tendulkar often goes to the stadium to watch his dad's batting and cheers for him with great enthusiasm. He bats and bowls in the nets whenever he goes to foreign countries along with his father, during the international season.

2011 Cricket World cup victory was very special not only to Sachin, but also to Sara and Arjun. They witnessed Sachin and team mates win the world cup after 28 long years. It was a time to rejoice and celebrate. Arjun's cricket spirits must have reached its peak when he saw his dad celebrating at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

On Friday 17th February, 2012, Arjun had won the match for his team in the under-13 match played at Pune. He showed his batting skills by hitting two massive sixes. Both sixes were so huge that they went out of the park and umpire decided to get a new ball each time. He scored an unbeaten 65 off 39 balls with 2 sixes and 12 boundaries. His team won the match by 8 wickets. Even though his fielding was average, his fantastic batting earned him the Man of the Match award.

In the same tournament in 2012, he had scored 65 off just 39 balls against PCMC Varroc Vengsarkar CA.

The world's best cricketer's son has started showing his talent and has been in news recently. Emulating his dad's performance will make international cricket fans believe that Tendulkars can still entertain them with some stunning game play.

Net practice with Indian cricket team members:

He had a chance to practice with the Indian cricket players during the third test between India and South Africa that took place between 2nd and 6th January 2011. Along with other Indian cricket team members he had a nice time batting at the crease on a side net. The young lad also played with the other Indian members, starting with the dashing batsman and opener Virender Sehwag. The junior Tendulkar is a part-time spinner like Sachin and he bowled to the tail-ender Sreesanth. Sreesanth also enjoyed while hitting the rubber ball directly into the stands.

During the India’s Tour of England in 2011, junior Tendulkar got a chance to practice at the Lord’s cricket ground in London. He practiced along with other Indian players ahead of the 4 test series between India and England. The youngster exhibited confidence when he bowled to India’s left-handed batsman Suresh Raina, in front of his father. He accompanied his father in most of the sessions during the test match.

At the celebration party of Mumbai Indians IPL victory:

In January 2013, he was selected to represent Mumbai team for under-14 West Zone league matches.

After the Mumbai Indians won the trophy in the finals of the sixth version of IPL, a party was hosted by Nita Ambani, the young master blaster was seen amidst huge crowd of cricketers. Wearing the blue striped T-shirt, he certainly looks like his dad but is cuter as he is still a youngster.

Sachin Tendulkar had made his International debut against Pakistan in the year 1989, when he played the first test in Karachi. Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the captain of the Indian team, then. In the same series, he had made his one day debut too. He impressed people of Pak and India in a first class match, when he took on the legendary leg spinner Abdul Qadir smashing him for sixes and fours. There were words of praises from Pak captain, Imran Khan when he hit those remarkable sixes.

Sachin also plays for the Mumbai Indians at IPL every year. It is the only T-20 tournament he plays. The master blaster's first International hundred came against England in 1990, when he played the Old Trafford test. His century against Australia in the 1991-92 series is remembered for long by the cricket fans all over the world. The recent double hundred in ODI cricket is a very tough feat to be emulated by any other batsman in the world. Sehwag was the only person to beat this record and score 219 in just 149 balls against the West Indies in December 2011.

Cricket lessons from his father, Sachin is slowly transforming this young boy into a top level cricketer. Indian cricket fans are eager to welcome Junior Tendulkar to the arena of International cricket, as early as possible. It seems like they are expecting him to come and play at a much younger age. The interest shown by Arjun might take him to the expected level soon.

So, in the next six years, Indian fans will see the master blaster’s kid in action.

In the year 2011, people witnessed a rare sight as Sachin Tendulkar bowled to son Arjun Tendulkar at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was Friday, December 23^rd. He bowled for nearly half an hour at the indoor nets. He played a few shots off dad Sachin's bowling on that day and then it was his turn to bowl. He also got a chance to bowl a few left arm seamers to the dashing Indian batsman Virender Sehwag.

Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones was present at the place. He couldn't get enough of the rare sight but watched curiously like a hawk. He asked Arjun about his coach and about his favorite shot. He also asked if he was interested in T-20 cricket.

He also recalled the Aussie cricketer Geoff Marsh who brought his son to practice at the nets and later his son Shaun had evolved as a good cricketer over the years. When he shared his thoughts he said that it was important for the kids to talk to more cricketers. He advised Arjun to forget about coaching and spend time with players at the nets.

When Mid-day newspaper journalist asked Jones about young Arjun, he said "Oh mate, if he can pick up 1/100th of his dad Sachin's skills, he should be alright. He was just telling me about scoring a 100 at a recent school match. Also, I heard he got 8 wickets in a game. I am sure his dad is tracking his progress very closely."

Young Arjun has already been making waves. With valuable inputs from dad Sachin, he is definitely going to set the stage on fire. It looks like he is another cricket star in the making.

Sachin Tendulkar had made his International debut against Pakistan in the year 1989, when he played the first test in Karachi. Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the captain of the Indian team, then. In the same series, he had made his one day debut too. He impressed people of Pak and India in a first class match, when he took on the legendary leg spinner Abdul Qadir smashing him for sixes and fours. There were words of praises from Pak captain, Imran Khan when he hit those remarakable sixes.

Sachin's first International hundred came against England in 1990, when he played the Old Trafford test. His centuries against Australia in the 1991-92 series is remembered for long by the cricket fans all over the world. The recent double hundred in ODI cricket is a very tough feat to be emulated by any other batsman in the world. Sehwag was the only person to beat this record and score 219 in just 149 balls against the West Indies in December 2011.

Mother, Anjali Tendulkar, a pediatrician by profession, had to give up her career and take care of her two tiny tots, son Arjun and daughter, Sara Tendulkar (born on 12th Oct,1997).

His sister Sara has involved herself in social service activities, at a very young age. The 13-year-old Sara ran in the Mumbai Marathon event on 17th Januray 2010, for a noble cause, her grandmother's NGO, Apnalaya. Apnalaya was founded in 1972, run by Sarah's maternal grandmother Annabel Mehta. The organisation works to promote community development, health and empowering women. It also helps the slum children. Sara was able to raise Rs 5.88 lakh on her own. She also won the award, Youngest Dream Maker of the Marathon.

Cricket world will thank Sachin when his son starts playing at the international level. Until then, all eyes will be watching the young bud grow.