Calcutta/New Delhi: There is still quite a distance to be covered before one could say ‘like father, like son’, but it wouldn’t perhaps be an exaggeration to say that Arjun Tendulkar is on the right path.
Arjun, son of the one and only Sachin Tendulkar, has been picked in the India under-19 squad for two four-day matches in Sri Lanka in July.
The 18-year-old Arjun is a left-arm pacer and a handy lower middle-order batsman.
Two India U-19 squads were announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Bangalore on Thursday. While Anuj Rawat would be the captain in the four-day matches, young Aryan Juyal would be leading the side in the one-dayers.
The squads were selected by the three-member selection committee, comprising Ashish Kapoor, Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh.
Arjun, with his tally of 18 wickets from five Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19) games is 43rd in the list of wicket-takers for the season. He had one five-wicket haul (5/95) against Madhya Pradesh.
Incidentally, Himachal Pradesh’s Ayush Jamwal (50 wickets) is not in any of the teams as he is now over age.
“There is a clear direction from BCCI and coach Rahul Dravid that those who surpass the age of 19 by this year should not be selected, even if they have performed. Dravid wants them to play Ranji Trophy instead. So a lot of boys who are ahead of Arjun in the performance list were disqualified,” a senior BCCI official said.
However, Harsh Tyagi (49 wickets), a left-arm spinner from Delhi, is in both the squads.
When a source close to the selection committee was asked how Arjun despite being 43rd in the wicket-takers’ list made the cut, he explained: “If you look at the list, Arjun is the only genuine quick bowler who has more than 15 wickets. Most of the bowlers above him are spinners, with only Ajay Dev Goud (33 wickets) being a genuine all-rounder. He is a slow medium bowler, while Arjun is a quick bowler.”
Also in a Zonal U-19 match between West and South Zone at Una, Arjun got four for 37 including three wickets in one spell.
“A lot of people don’t know U-19 Zonals are happening at Una and Arjun has done well there.”
Sachin, meanwhile, expressed happiness on his son’s selection in India U-19 team. “We are happy that Arjun has been selected in the India U-19 team. It is an important milestone in his cricketing life. Anjali and I will always support Arjun in his choices and pray for his success,” Sachin said.
Arjun has trained under former India fast bowler Subroto Banerjee, a close friend of Sachin.
He has also bowled at the India nets earlier and was in fast bowlers’ camp at Dharamsala organised by the BCCI.
