Arjun Tendulkar, son of the legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, took a giant step in his cricket career when the 23-year-old slammed a maiden First-Class century in his Ranji Trophy debut.
Arjun Tendulkar, son of the legendary former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, took a giant step in his cricket career when the 23-year-old slammed a maiden First-Class century in his Ranji Trophy debut. Arjun, representing Goa, smashed a century on Day 2 of his team’s Ranji Trophy tie against Rajasthan in Porvorim, emulating his father the great Sachin. Coincidentally, it was in December of 1988 – 34 years ago – that Sachin had scored a 100 on his Ranji Trophy debut as well.
Arjun, who resumed batting on 4 from the No. 7 position, added a 200-run partnership with fellow centurion Suyash Prabhudesai. At the end of 140 overs, Goa had piled 410 runs with Arjun batting on 112 having struck 15 fours and two sixes. Arjun, who had previous played white-ball cricket for Mumbai, switched to Goa earlier this year to explore more opportunities.
Arjun made his Under-19 debut for India against Sri Lanka in 2018 where he played two unofficial Tests. Considered a bowling all-rounder, Arjun has been part of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL but is yet to get a game. He was picked during the IPL 2021 auction but was ruled out due to injury. MI however, did not lost their faith in Arjun, reacquiring him at the IPL 2022 mega auction.
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He did however, play two matches for Mumbai in the 2020-21 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and picked up two wickets against Manipur. In August, Arjun has expressed his desire to switch states, a move which was completed his October. Arjun had trained under Yograj Singh, father of former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and a video of the two celebrating after a practice session had made headlines.
Days later, Arjun made a dream start with Goa, registering a career-best figures of 4/17. The left-arm quick blew away Hyderabad dishing out 17 dot balls. After opening the attack for Goa, where he gave away just a single in his first two overs. Arjun returned during the death overs where he first picked up two wickets in a space of four balls and then two more as Hyderabad posted 177/6. Arjun’s efforts though went in vain as Goa were bowled out for 140 in 18.5 overs to lose the match by 37 runs.
Upon joining Goa, Arjun had a rather lukewarm start to the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In seven matches, Arjun batted just thrice, scoring 2 not out, 9 not out and 14 not out, and fared reasonably well with the ball picking up eight wickets, only twice going wicketless. He registered figures of 2/32 against Bihar, 2/44 against Chhattisgarh and 2/61 against Tamil Nadu. Besides, he finished the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 10 wickets in seven matches and was the second-highest wicket-taker for Goa. For those unaware, Arjun clocks decent bowling speeds in the mid-130s.
In 1988, Tendulkar had become the first Indian batter to score centuries on Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy debuts. On December 11, Tendulkar was 15 when he struck an unbeaten century against Gujarat and finished the season as Mumbai’s (formerly Bombay) highest run-scorer – 583 runs at an average of 67.77 which was the eight-highest overall. He also scored an unbeaten century in the Irani Trophy match against Delhi that year.
Goa ended Day 2 on 493/8, with Tendulkar being dismissed on 120 off 207 deliveries. He was caught -and-bowled by Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
