On 16 April, Sunday, Sachin Tendulkar and Arjun Tendulkar became the first ever father-son duo to play in the Indian Premier League. Arjun took the field against Kolkata Knight Riders at his home ground on Monday and bowled under the captaincy of Suryakmaer Yadav. Arjun displayed some impressive ability to swing the new ball against KKR, but was not able to take any wickets on his debut.
Arjun’s father – Sachin was not seen in the MI dugout despite being the mentor of the team, but his mother and sister were present in the stands and were cheering for him. Sachin spoke to the IPL website and in a video revealed why he was not anywhere to be found. The former batter said that this was his first experience of watching his son in the IPL and he wanted him to express himself fully against KKR.
“This was a new experience for me because. Till now I have not actually gone and watched him play,” Sachin told the IPL website.
“I just wanted him to have the freedom to go out and express himself and do whatever he wanted to,” the Indian legend further added.
Tendulkar said that he was nowhere to be seen because he was watching the game from the dressing room so that Arjun could keep his entire focus on the game and not be worried about the cameras panning to his father.
“I sat in the dressing room, I didn’t want him to let him move away from his plans and start looking at the mega screen here and suddenly realise that I was watching there. I was inside” Sachin spoke about trying how he tried to keep the pressure off his son Arjun.
The young left-arm seamer gave a decent account of himself and troubled the batters with his swing. He finished with the figures of 2-0-17-0. Speaking about his debut for the side, Arjun said that it was special to play for the team that he had been supporting since 2008. “It was a great moment, it is always special to play for the team I have supported since 2008,” Arjun said.
