Arjun Tendulkar plays for Mumbai Indians (MI) as a left-arm seamer, he made his debut for the MI side last week against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 18, Arjun defended 20 runs in the last over, and picked his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) wicket, in his second game for the five-time champion side.
Ex-AUS pacer reckons Arjun Tendulkar got the role to bowl with the new ball-
“If you assess him purely on execution, he got it right. He got his line right, he bowled the side of the field that he was looking at, he got his length right, he got the number of deliveries close to yorker,”
“It would’ve put him, as well as Rohit, in enormous pressure, because he (Rohit) wouldn’t have been planning at the beginning of the innings that Arjun Tendulkar was going to be one of his death bowlers. He has clearly got a role in that side which is to bowl with a new ball, which he has done twice now,” said Tom Moody talking to ESPNCricinfo.
Arjun, who got the opportunity to play back-to-back games for MI, ended his second game with a figure of 1/18 in 2.5 overs against SRH. And, the one wicket he picked was of Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the five-time champions side bowled out the home side for 178 runs in 19.5 overs, and Rohit Sharma-led side won the game by 14 runs.
“I see his role potentially in the middle overs somewhere, if the timing is right. But certainly not a specialist at death. Having said that, he can walk away with that performance holding his head held high. He had tail to bowl to, had 20 runs, but we have seen going that pear-shaped as well. So, he has done well,” he further added.
While in the first game Jr.Tendulkar played, he bowled two initial overs and was not used afterwards at Wankhede Stadium, but at that game, it was a different pitch altogether and it was slightly gripping, so in that game skipper Suryakumar Yadav didn’t give Arjun second spell.
A special moment for young Arjun Tendulkar, who gets his first wicket in #TATAIPL and it is his captain Rohit Sharma, who takes the catch of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Arjun takes the final wicket and @mipaltan win by 14 runs. pic.twitter.com/1jAa2kBm0Z
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 18, 2023
While, in this spell, as Rohit was back leading the side in this game and Cameron Green bowled brilliant second last over and gave only four runs, and with two wickets in hand and with only one regular batter in the crease, Abdul Samad, MI skipper trusted the 23-year-old to bowl the final over, while Samad was run out in the second ball, and Kumar was dismissed on the 5th ball, eventually he gave only 5 runs in the last over.
Now, in IPL 2023, MI has won three games in a row after facing back-to-back defeats in the first two games they played, for their sixth game in the season Rohit Sharma-led side will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 22 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.