Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Arjun Tendulkar picked his maiden wicket in Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) when he dismissed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to clinch the game for MI. Tendulkar jr was picked as the dressing room Player of the Match for his match-winning spell of 1 for 18 runs from 2.5 overs. In MI dressing room, the management uses these awards to motivate the players and they receive badges which they wear on their shorts. MI’s emerging star received the badge from none other than Sachin Tendulkar, his father and a cricketing legend. In the video that has gone viral, Sachin can be heard saying: “At least there’s a wicket in our family now.”
Watch Arjun receiving badge from Sachin below:
“At least there’s a wicket in our family now.” _ – Sachin Tendulkar
It’s an awww-filled content day – Arjun receives his POTM __ from his father. __ #OneFamily #SRHvMI #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #IPL2023 #TATAIPL @sachin_rt MI TV pic.twitter.com/l03lt1Aw8x
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 19, 2023
Arjun, a team man
After his brilliant spell, Arjun spoke the broadcasters and revealed his plans for the Hyderabad batters. The 23-year-old said that he was happy to grab a wicket in the match. Arjun said that he is happy doing what the captain asks him to do.
“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.”
On his relationship with father Sachin, Arjun said that he keeps talking cricket with him and discuss tactics ahead of the match. “We (Sachin Tendulkar and him) talk about cricket, we discuss tactics before the game and he tells me to back what I practise every game. I just focused on my release, bowling good lengths and lines upfront. If it swings, it’s a bonus, if it doesn’t, so be it.”
Arjun trolled for bowling speed
It is true that Arjun is not building pace at the moment. Former India pacer Irfan Pathan, in a video posted by him on Instagram, said that Arjun will only improve from here. However, during the game vs SRH, Arjun was trolled for bowling a delivery which was around 107 kph in speed. Netizens slammed the MI pacer for bowling at lesser speed than former Pakistan spinner Shahid Afridi.
It was not too difficult to spot that Arjun’s 107 kph was, in fact, a slower one. Change in variations help the pacers trick the batters and Arjun too uses his brains to smart the batter in this instance.
