Quantcast

Arjun Tendulkar thrills with century

Eyes of the cricket world on Sachin's son after he blasts a century in junior cricket

Arjun Tendulkar, son of India batting deity Sachin, is following in his father's footsteps after he blasted a century yesterday.

Arjun top-scored for the Sunil Gavaskar XI against the Rohit Sharma XI in the Mumbai Cricket Association U16 Payyade Trophy, posting 106 out of 218 at the venue named after his father, the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana Grounds.

The 16-year-old, who has the eyes of one billion people watching his every move on a cricket field, also smashed 118 from just 42 balls in September last year.

Unlike dad Sachin, Arjun bats left-handed and is prominently a left-arm seam bowler.

Quick single: Patient Peter to be Kane's Kryptonite

Arjun was a surprise net bowler at England training this winter, bowling at Lord's ahead of the second Ashes Test at the Home of Cricket.

Legendary left-arm swing bowler Wasim Akram, who has worked with Australia spearhead Mitchell Starc, passed on some advice to the young Tendulkar when they met in the Indian Premier League this year.

"He is as enthusiastic as any 15 year old passionate about cricket in India and Pakistan would be," Wasim told NDTV.

"I gave him some general tips about fitness and wrist position.

"I told him how to bring the ball back into the right-hander.

"I told him to practice it for three months and then I promised him to teach how to take the ball away from right-handers."

At the same age, Arjun's father had made his Test debut against Wasim and pace partner Waqar Younis in Karachi in 1989.

What followed was one of the greatest careers in the history of the game.

Quick single: McCullum's nice guys no longer running last

But Sachin, owner of the most matches (200), runs (15,921) and centuries (51) in Test history, will not put any pressure on his son to play cricket, just as his father allowed him to develop his own career.

"When I started playing cricket, though my father was a professor and in the literary field, at no stage did I have this pressure from anyone to follow my father’s footsteps," Sachin said after Arjun's 118 in September, 2014.

"At no stage of my life, there were comparisons (to his father).

"My son has just started his career and it’s a humble request to let him live his life like a normal 14-year-old, without thinking about anything else but falling in love with the sport."