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Arjun Sachin Tendulkar: The flagbearer of expectations

Arjun Tendulkar is often referred to as the son of cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar. To carry the surname with him is a Herculean task for Arjun and while

Arjun Sachin Tendulkar: The flagbearer of expectations
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Left-arm pacer, Arjun Tendulkar was born on September 24, 1999, to master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Anjali Tendulkar. With his birth itself, the title ‘Jr. Tendulkar’ was etched on him by cricket fans. While Arjun is nothing like his father, who is bestowed as the "God of Cricket", people have always been ready to compare him to Sachin.

But expectations never held him back. He made his own way and did what he felt like doing. He chose to be a left-arm pacer, he chose to be a left-handed lower order batsman and excelled in what he did. 


 


Arjun began playing cricket when he was 8 years old after his father arranged for him a Cricket Coaching Club. Soon, he started out as a fast bowler who admired Mitchell Starc as an inspiration. Arjun played his first match on 22 January 2010 at the Under-13 Tournament in Pune.

However, Arjun as a bowler shone when in November 2011, he took 8 wickets for 22 runs against Jamnabai Narsee School while playing for Dhirubhai International School. 

Arjun was selected for two four-day U-19 matches in Sri Lanka and in the first match, Arjun got the breakthrough for India in the first innings by taking the first wicket and finished the match in the second innings by scalping the last wicket. India U-19 won the match by an innings and 21 runs. 



However, Arjun hasn't driven his luck based on his surname. Like every other aspiring cricketer, he has put in the required effort to mark his name in the sport which India values dearly. In January earlier this year, Arjun displayed an all-round performance after he hit 48 runs in 27 balls and grabbed four wickets in four overs in a T20 match in Australia.

Recently, the 18-year old was seen practising with the Indian team in London. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had also posted a photo of Arjun Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri on Twitter that said, “Words of wisdom from Ravi Shastri for young Arjun Tendulkar.” While some individuals were glad to see Arjun following his father’s footsteps successfully, some people said that the photo shouted nepotism. Fingers were pointed at Arjun for practising with the senior Indian team when he had an U-19 tour of Sri Lanka coming up. Questions were raised about favouritism and life being "easy" for Sachin's son. 

While nepotism is a very strong word to use for someone, it would be better to leave Arjun Tendulkar’s fate in his own hands, so that he can establish himself as, ‘Arjun Tendulkar’. Because we might all just agree that having a famous surname has its privileges but it comes with a lot of expectations and responsibility. In the end, the name 'Tendulkar' won't matter. What will matter is the talent, Arjun has to offer. 

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