Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun Tendulkar bagged his first ever IPL contract with his home side Mumbai Indians. Arjun was the last cricketer to be picked in IPL auction 2021 in Chennai on Thursday. The all-rounder was picked up at his base price of ₹20 lakh by defending champions Mumbai Indians right at the fag end of the mini-auction. Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene revealed the reason behind his purchase as he said that the side picked Arjun Tendulkar purely on the basis of his skill sets. Jayawardene said the stint with Mumbai Indians will be a learning process for Arjun. The former Sri Lanka skipper also said the 21-year-old left-arm medium-pacer will learn and evolve his game with time.
"We've looked at it purely on a skill basis. I mean, there is going to be a big tag on his head because of Sachin. But, luckily, he's a bowler, not a batsman. So I think Sachin will be very proud if he could bowl like Arjun," ESPNcricinfo quoted Jayawardene as saying. "I think it's going to be a learning process for Arjun. He just started playing for Mumbai, and now the franchise. He will learn the ropes; he will evolve. He's still young. A very focused young man," he further said."We have to give him time and hopefully not put a lot of pressure on him either. Just let him evolve and work his way up, and that's what we're there to help him to do," Jayawardene added.
Mumbai Indians' Director of Cricket Operations, Zaheer Khan during a virtual press conference said, "I have spent a lot of time in the nets, trying to teach him some tricks of the trade, he is a hardworking kid, he is keen on learning, it is an exciting part. The added pressure of being Sachin Tendulkar's son will always be on him, it is something he needs to live with, the environment of the team will help him. It will help him become a good cricketer, how many times a youngster gets picked in the auction and everyone is talking about him, he has to prove himself and he has to show everyone he has the goods. In the players' auction held on Thursday, defending champions Mumbai Indians also picked up, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jimmy Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, and Piyush Chawla.
