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Arjun Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer who has played for Mumbai and Goa in domestic cricket. He represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons. He is the son of ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar.
Wiki/Biography
Arjun Tendulkar was born on Friday, 24 September 1999 (age 23 years; as of 2022) at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. His zodiac sign is Libra. He studied at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai. He trained under Chandu Bhatkar and Jagdish Chavan at the MIG Club in Kalanagar. He was very active in sports since childhood and played taekwondo, cricket, football, and swimming; however, he started training seriously to become a cricketer at the age of eight.
Physical Appearance
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight (approx.): 80 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements (approx.): Chest 42″, Waist 32″, Biceps 14″
Family
He belongs to a Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin family.
Parents & Siblings
His father is Sachin Tendulkar, who has 100 international centuries and is considered the greatest cricketer of all time. His mother is Anjali Tendulkar who is a doctor. He has an elder sister named Sara Tendulkar.
Wife & Children
He is unmarried.
Other Relatives
His paternal grandfather, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a noted Marathi poet and novelist, and his paternal grandmother, Rajni Tendulkar, was an insurance agent. His maternal grandfather, Anand Mehta, was a Gujarati businessman, and his maternal grandmother, Annabel Mehta, was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2017 for her philanthropy. He has two uncles, Nitin Tendulkar, and Ajit Tendulkar.
Relationships/Affairs
He is single and does not have a girlfriend.
Religion
He follows Hinduism.
Career
Domestic
He played his first match on 21 January 2010 for the MIG Club in the Under-13 Cadence Trophy in Pune, Maharashtra. In a match in a district-level school tournament, he scored 45 runs and took 4 wickets to help his school clinch victory. He played for his school, Dhirubhai Ambani School, in the Harris Shield Tournament, and in a match against Jamnabai Narsee School on 15 November 2011, the day when his father Sachin completed 22 years in international cricket, he took 8 wickets for 22 runs in 12 overs.
He made his maiden domestic century on 22 December 2012 by scoring 124 runs, which included 14 fours and 1 six, for Khar Gymkhana against Goregaon Centre in a match of the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Under-14 selection trials held at Cross Maidan. He scored more than 250 runs in 5 matches of the tournament following which he was selected for the Mumbai Under-14 team in January 2013. He played for Ravi Shastri XI in the 2012-13 Under-14 Dilip Vengsarkar Foundation Cup and scored 70 runs in one of the matches of the tournament. He played for Mumbai Under-14 in the 2013-14 West Zone Inter State Under-14 Tournament. He played for the Young Parsee Cricket Club in the ‘G’ division of the Kanga league in 2013 when he was 13 years old.
In September 2014, he scored 118 runs off 42 balls for his school, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, to take them into the semifinals of the Smaaash Master Blaster School Cricket Championship.
On 14 July 2014, he played a one-day match for Ealing against Marylebone Cricket Club at Corfton Road, Ealing, London, England and took 1 wicket for 27 runs in 6 overs. On 24 November 2015, while playing for the Sunil Gavaskar XI team in the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) U-16 Payyade Trophy, he scored 106 runs off 156 balls, which included 16 fours and 2 sixes, to help his team win the match. He was selected for the Mumbai Under-16 team in November 2015 and played in the 2015-16 Andhra Cricket Association Inter-State Under-16 Quadrangular Series and the 2015-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy. On 22 June 2017, he played a one-day match for Marylebone Cricket Club Young Cricketers against the United Kingdom Armed Forces Development XI at The Army Cricket Ground, Aldershot, England and scored 2 runs and took 1 wicket for 21 runs in 4 overs.
On 4 July 2017, he played a one-day match for Marylebone Cricket Club against Namibia Under-19 at Stanmore Common, Stanmore, London, England and took 4 wickets for 26 runs in 7 overs. On 6 July 2017, he played a one-day match for Club Cricket Conference Under-25 against Namibia Under-19 at Stanmore Common, Stanmore, London, England and scored 18 runs and conceded 39 runs in 9 overs without a wicket. On 5 August 2017, he played in a match of the 2017 Middlesex County Cricket League Division One for Brondesbury against Finchley and took 1 wicket for 38 runs in 8 overs. In September 2017, he was selected for the Mumbai Under-19 team and played in the JY Lele India Under-19 Invitational One-Day Tournament which was held in Baroda from 16 September 2017 to 23 September 2017. He played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy Inter State Tournament.
He played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons of the Cooch Behar Trophy, and in a match against Delhi Under-19 on 21 November 2018, he took 5 wickets for 98 runs in the first innings at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground (now – Arun Jaitley Stadium), Delhi. He took 19 wickets in 5 matches of the 2017-18 Cooch Behar Trophy which included two 5-wicket hauls and one 4-wicket haul. He played for Vijay Merchant XI in the 2018 KC Mahindra Shield Under-19 tournament, and in a match against Vijay Manjrekar XI, he took 6 wickets for 70 runs. He played for the Cricket Club of India in the Spirit of Cricket Global Challenge, and on 11 January 2018, in a T20 match against Hong Kong Cricket Club at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia, he took 4 wickets and scored 48 runs off 27 balls against Hong Kong Cricket Club. He played in the 2019 RFS Talyarkhan Memorial Invitation for the Cricket Club of India, and in a match against Islam Gymkhana on 27 January 2019, he took 3 wickets for 30 runs. He played for the DY Patil B team in the 2019 DY Patil T20 Cup.
😳 Arjun Tendulkar, take a bow!
He took this stunning wicket this morning for @MCCYC4L.
Follow their progress versus @SurreyCricket 2nd XI ➡️ https://t.co/Vs5CtV2o8N#MCCcricket pic.twitter.com/5Mb3hWNI70
— Lord’s Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) June 17, 2019
In February 2019, he was selected for the Mumbai Under-23 team and played in the BCCI’s One Day League and Knockout tournaments. He played his T20 debut match for the Mumbai team on 15 January 2021 against Haryana in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and took 1 wicket for 34 runs in 3 overs.
On 14 February 2021, he played for MIG Cricket Club against Islam Gymkhana in a match of the 73rd Police Invitation Shield cricket tournament and scored 77 runs off 31 balls, which included 5 fours and 8 sixes, and took 3 wickets for 41 runs.
On 19 July 2022, he played a one-day match for Middlesex Second XI against Club Cricket Conference at Teddington Cricket Club Ground, Bushy Park, Teddington, England and took 1 wicket for 16 runs in 4 overs. On 21 July 2022, he played in a one-day match for Middlesex Second XI against South Asian Cricket Academy and conceded 26 runs in 4 overs without a wicket. In August 2022, he left the Mumbai team and moved to the Goa team in the hopes of getting more chances to play in domestic tournaments. He played his debut one-day match for Goa on 12 November 2022 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Andhra Pradesh and conceded 15 runs in 3 overs without a wicket before rain stopped the play. He played his debut Ranji match for Goa on 13 December 2022 against Rajasthan in Porvorim, Goa and made his debut in style by scoring his maiden century with 120 runs off 207 balls, which included 16 fours and 2 sixes, and took 3 wickets for 104 runs in 23.1 overs.
International
India Under-19
In June 2018, he was selected for the India Under-19 team. He played two four-day tests against Sri Lanka and took his maiden wicket in the form of Kamil Mishara. Vinod Kambli, a former Indian cricketer, took to Twitter to congratulate Arjun on his success. He took 3 wickets for 137 runs with the best bowling figure of 2 wickets for 65 runs.
Tears of joy rolled down when I saw this, have seen him grow up and put in the hard work in his game. Could not be more happy for you, Arjun. This is just the beginning, I wish you tons and ton of success in the days to come. Cherish your first wicket and enjoy the moment.👌 pic.twitter.com/vB3OmbaTWM
— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) July 17, 2018
T20 Mumbai League
In the 2019 auction for the 2019 edition of the T20 Mumbai League, he was acquired by Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs (MSW) for Rs 5 lakhs against his base price of Rs 1 lakh. He displayed his cricketing skills by scoring 23 runs off 19 balls, which included a four and a six, and he took 1 wicket for 21 runs in 3 overs. He played 6 matches in the tournament and scored 104 runs with the highest score of 28 runs against North Mumbai Panthers (NMP) at an average of 17.33 and a strike rate of 123.81. He conceded 154 runs in 17.1 overs and took 5 wickets with the best bowling figures of 3 wickets for 27 runs against NMP. His bowling average was 30.80, and the economy was 8.97.
Indian Premier League (IPL)
He was first acquired by Mumbai Indians for his base price of Rs 20 lakhs in the 2021 IPL auction; however, he did not play any match in that season. On 13 February 2022, during the 2022 mega auction for the 2022 IPL season, he was acquired by Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakhs against the base price of Rs 20 lakhs; however, he did not play any match in that season. He was retained by Mumbai Indians for the 2023 IPL season. He played his debut IPL match on 16 April 2023 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai and conceded 17 runs in 2 overs without a wicket.
On 18 April 2023, he took his maiden IPL wicket by dismissing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batsman Bhuvneshwar Kumar and conceded 18 runs in 2.5 overs for one wicket. After his first IPL wicket, he said in an interview that he was very happy and would bowl anytime as per the captain and team’s decision. He said,
Obviously it was great getting my first IPL wicket. I just had to focus on what was in hand, the plan and executing it. Our plan was just to bowl wide and get the long boundary into play, make the batsman hit it to the longer side. I love bowling, I am happy to bowl anytime the captain asks me to and just stick to the team plan and give my best.”
Favourites
- Dish: Bacon and Scrambled eggs
- Cricketer(s): Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes
- Holiday Destination(s): Sydney, London, Goa
Facts/Trivia
- His batting style is Left-handed, and his bowling style is Left arm medium fast.
- He was chubby in childhood; however, he grew up to become a tall lanky pacer.
- In an interview, Arjun Tendulkar said that he became a fast bowler because he loved fast bowling in childhood, and made up his mind to become one as there were not many fast bowlers in India.
- During a match in the Kanga League in 2013, he got out by an inside edge, and when he was sitting in the team camp, a fellow team member asked him if he would drink tea. When Arjun denied it, the boy passed a scathing remark against him and said that he would drink only Boost (referring to Sachin Tendulkar‘s advertisement for Boost).
- Pakistani legendary bowler Wasim Akram praised Arjun’s dedication in an interview in 2015 and said that he was very passionate to learn and was a very grounded person. He said,
He is a 15-year-old who is like any other kid in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka – he’s very enthusiastic about his cricket. I told him a little bit about fitness, on wrist positioning and I explained to him how to bring the ball back onto the right-hander.”
- In 2017, he was a net bowler for the Indian Women’s team during their practice for the 2017 Women’s World Cup.
- On 5 July 2017, he was bowling against England national team batsmen in a practice session at Lord’s, London. He bowled a yorker which landed on the toes of wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow after which he had to immediately seek medical attention; however, he was not injured seriously.
- He pulled out of the 2018 season of the T20 Mumbai League to work on his bowling action as he suffered a stress fracture in his back in July 2016 and had to miss cricket for 6 months. A person associated with Arjun said,
His body has grown very quickly in the last couple of years – you can see the difference in his growth almost every couple of months, and perhaps as a result of that, has suffered two back-to-back stress fractures, which saw him ruled out for almost a year. He’s gone through a lot. Every ball of his is monitored by his coach Atul Gaikwad, a Pune based-coach-cum-bio-mechanist, who has been working closely on his bowling action.”
- When nepotism was alleged by some people after his auction to the Mumbai Indians in the 2021 IPL auction, Indian actor Farhan Akhtar took to Twitter and wrote that he went to the same gym as Arjun and saw him work very hard on his fitness and hone his skills as a cricketer.
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 Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) February 20, 2021
- England women cricketer Danielle Wyatt, who admired Virat Kohli, posted Arjun’s pictures on Instagram and said in an interview in 2022 that he had become quicker with his age and that she shared a good bonding with him and his family.
- In September 2022, he underwent two weeks of training under the former Indian cricketer and Yuvraj Singh’s father, Yograj Singh, in Chandigarh. Yograj mentioned an incident from the camp which compelled him to say that Arjun was very similar to his father Sachin Tendulkar in terms of passion for cricket. He said that Arjun was hit on the chin by the ball while fielding, and when Yograj asked him to apply ice and leave the camp for the day, Arjun replied ‘Mai Khelega’, the same word uttered by his father Sachin when he was hit by a bouncer bowled by Pakistani pacer Waqar Younis during his initial years.
- In January 2023, Naushad Khan, the father of Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan, revealed in an interview that Sarfaraz was amazed at the lavishing life of Arjun Tendulkar when they both used to play alongside each other when they were growing up. Sarfaraz said to Naushad,
Abbu, Arjun kitna naseebwala hai na? (Arjun is so lucky). He is Sachin sir’s son, and has cars, iPads, everything.”
Later, Sarfaraz said that he was lucky as he got the full time of his father unlike Arjun, who seldom got the time of his legendary father Sachin and said,
I’m more fortunate than him. You can devote the entire day to me. His father is not able to give him any time.”
- When Arjun played his debut IPL match on 16 April 2023, he and his father, Sachin Tendulkar, became the first father-son duo to play in the IPL.
- In an interview, Sachin Tendulkar revealed that he does not watch Arjun play as he wants him to play cricket without any pressure. He also said that even if he goes to watch him play sometimes, he goes to the ground in disguise and does not make anyone aware of his presence. He said,
Fathers and mothers, when they watch their children play, they get stressed and that’s why I don’t go and watch Arjun, because I want him to have that freedom to fall in love with cricket — to stay focused on what he wants to do, I don’t go and watch him play. He has to stay focused on the game. Like I didn’t like anyone watching me. Even if I go and watch his games, I’m hiding somewhere. He doesn’t know that I’m there, and nobody knows, neither does his coach, or anyone.”
- When Arjun Tendulkar took his first IPL wicket on 18 April 2023, noted industrialist Anand Mahindra congratulated him on Twitter and wrote that he hoped that Arjun would preserve the legacy of his father.
I cheered—along with millions of Indians—for #ArjunTendulkar when he breached this milestone. That’s because of our affection for @sachin_rt based not just on his cricketing feats but his humility & graciousness. That is also a huge legacy which I hope Arjun will preserve. https://t.co/xgEbk50Wwv
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 19, 2023
- Although his bowling speed is speculated between 130-140 kmph, during the matches of IPL 2023, he bowled around 127-128 kmph. The fastest ball on his debut was clocked at 129 kmph. One of his slower deliveries was clocked at 107.2 kmph after which many people criticised him on social media and said that even Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, who was a spinner, bowled faster than him; however, few people also supported him and said that he showed the presence of mind by using variation in his bowling. A few people also mocked his bowling action.
- Former Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif criticised Arjun’s alignment on his YouTube Channel after watching him play in IPL and said that he would not be able to generate pace as his alignment was not good. He added that Arjun needed to work very hard on his bowling action as well. He said,
He’s (Arjun) in his initial stage. He has to do a lot of hard work. His alignment isn’t good, he won’t be able to generate pace. If a good biomechanical consultant guides him, maybe he can add some pace to his bowling. It’s quite a touchy subject, coaching and changing a player. Sachin could’ve done that himself but he relied on domestic cricket for that. Your base has to be strong. When he lands, he goes out instead of coming in. His balance isn’t good, and that’s impacting his pace. But again, it’s still in the initial stage. He can go till 135kmph, he’s a good batter. He can be a good player in 2-3 years.”
- He likes watching WWE and is a fan of Brock Lesnar.
- He follows a very strict gym routine and diet plan. He likes to do weightlifting, particularly trap bar deadlifts and dumbbell lunges. He also does running, skipping, and stair climbing to increase his endurance. His diet includes simple plain food like dal, roti, and sabzi along with dry fruits, milk, and juices to fulfil his nutritional requirements.
- He trained under different coaches as he has played for many teams throughout his career. Arjun Tendulkar’s coaches include Atul Gaekwad, a Pune based-coach-cum-bio-mechanist, Subroto Banerjee, a former Indian cricketer, Adrian Le Roux, a South African coach, Jonty Rhodes, a former South Indian cricketer, Shane Bond, a former New Zealand pacer, Praveen Amre, a former Indian cricketer, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a former Indian cricketer, Paras Mhambrey, a former Indian cricketer, Rajesh Sanil, a former Mumbai cricketer, Vidya Paradkar, a Mumbai-based coach, Wilkin Mota, a former Mumbai cricketer, and Yograj Singh, a former Indian cricketer and Yuvraj Singh’s father. Apart from his coaches, he often takes advice from his father.
- He revealed in an interview that he is scared of snakes. When he was playing in an Under-19 match at BKC Ground, Bandra, he was fielding at the deep point position when the batsman hit a shot. He ran towards the ball to stop it; however, he saw a snake on the ground and ran towards the other direction.
- After Arjun claimed his maiden wicket on 18 April 2023, Indian actress and owner of Punjab Kings, Preity Zinta, took to Twitter to give an answer to the critics who called Arjun Tendulkar a product of Nepotism. She tweeted that he showed with his performance, and his spot was well-earned.
Many mocked him for nepotism but tonight he has shown his spot is well earned 👏 Congrats Arjun. @sachin_rt you must be so proud #Arjuntendulkar #SRHvsMI #TATAIPL2023
— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) April 18, 2023