Arjun Tendulkar – the son of the most prolific runscorer in Test history Sachin Tendulkar – has made the cricket world sit up and take notice after plundering a century in a junior tournament in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old has more to live up to than any other junior cricketer in the world given the godlike status his father holds in India – and other nations across the world – but Arjun’s knock has filled those in his home nation with hope that he, like his father, might be destined for great things on the cricket field.
The younger Tendulkar belted 106 – a dig that has been likened by those at the ground to one in the mould of Yuvraj Singh. Arjun scored almost half (48.6 per cent) of his team’s total of 218, playing for the Sunil Gavaskar XI against Rohit Sharma XI for the Mumbai Cricket Association Under-16 Payyade Trophy.
Sachin Tendulkar has never put undue pressure on his son to forge a cricket career, but from all reports Arjun possesses some of his father’s traits which could well see him play for his country one day.
It must be remembered, however, when Sachin was 16 years old, he made his Test debut for India, scoring 15 from 24 balls against a Pakistan attack featuring a formidable pace-trio of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan.
Now that Tendulkar, who holds the record for the most Tests played (200) and most runs scored (15921), has retired, it is not surprising to see Indian supporters putting fresh hope in another ‘Master Blaster’ to help their country climb higher than fourth on the ICC Test Championship rankings.
Arjun also bowls left-arm pace and in the past has bowled to the English cricket team in the nets. He has received praise from Akram, who said during the Indian Premier League Tendulkar was a passionate kid.