Young left-arm fast bowler Arjun Tendulkar continues to be consigned to only drinks duties for the Mumbai Indians (MI) even as the franchise gets depleted in their pace attack.
With Jofra Archer also injured, many fans believed that MI might finally give Arjun his IPL debut cap and unleash the youngster over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the high-voltage clash that is built up as the El Clásico of the IPL.
Mumbai hosted Chennai on Saturday evening at the Wankhede, where the pitch is and it did, favor the seamers with plenty of swing and seam movement on offer from the surface.
Arjun Tendulkar has been with Mumbai Indians since IPL 2021 but has spent his time on the bench
Already without Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson for the entire IPL 2023 season, MI were further dented by an elbow injury to Jofra Archer. Rohit, at the toss, said that it is only a precautionary measure that they are not playing Archer, but reports last night had stated Archer’s elbow injury, for which he’d undergone surgery last year, is hurting again.
To replace Archer in the XI, MI played South African batter Tristan Stubbs along with Australian seamer Jason Behrendorff. But many fans were surprised that MI still didn’t play Arjun Tendulkar, who had a breakthrough domestic season for Goa and had been bowling at top-notch intensity in the nets. Arjun is also known for his swing bowling with the new ball, something which would have been useful at the Wankhede.
Arjun’s domestic record and T20 stats:
In 7 first-class matches in the 2022/23 domestic season, Arjun Tendulkar picked up 12 wickets, and with the bat scored 223 runs, including a century – a score of 120 against Rajasthan – on debut, like his father Sachin did on his Ranji debut. He also has snapped up 8 wickets in 7 List-A matches, and 12 wickets in 9 T20s.
Has Arjun played in the IPL?
No, he has not played in the IPL yet. 23-year-old Arjun Tendulkar is yet to make his IPL debut for MI. He has been with MI since Indian Premier League 2021, but has remained on the bench.
