MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar was overjoyed with his son Arjun Tendulkar’s debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders, saying that watching his son’s play was a new experience for him.
Since the start of IPL in 2008, Tendulkar has been affiliated with MI and now after 16 years, his son is playing for the same team.
Sachin in a video released by IPL’s Twitter said, “It is a different feeling because 2008 was the first season for me and 16 years down the line, he is playing for the same team, not bad.”
Debutant Arjun Tendulkar sitting beside his father listened to him with gratitude.
The cricket legend revealed that he had not seen his son playing and seeing him play from the dressing room was a very new experience for him.
“This was a new experience for me because till now I have not actually gone and watched him play. I just wanted him to have the freedom to go out and express himself and do whatever he wanted to,” Sachin added.
Being a protective father, Sachin sat in the dressing room so that Arjun would not get nervous seeing his father on the big screen.
“I sat in the dressing room because I did not want to let him move away from his plans and start looking at the mega screen here and suddenly realise that I was watching there, therefore I was inside” Master Blaster further said.
Arjun also shared his experience debuting for MI, he said, “It was a great moment, It is always special to play for the team I have supported since 2008, It was nice to get the cap from the captain of MI and the team.”
Playing as a pacer in Mumbai’s side, Arjun delivered only two overs in the debutant match against KKR. He did not get any wickets and gave 17 runs with an economy of 8.50 against KKR.
For Kolkata, Venkatesh Iyer clinched his second IPL century by scoring 104 runs in 51 balls. With the help of Venkatesh’s hundred and Andre Russell’s 21 runs in 11 balls, KKR put 185 runs on the board losing six wickets.
Hrithik Shokeen was the pick of the bowlers by taking two wickets. Piyush Chawla, Cameron Green, Duan Jansen and Riley Meredith took one-one wickets. MI chased down the total in 17.4 overs, with five wickets in hand.
Knocks from Ishan Kishan (58 off 25 balls with five fours and five sixes), Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 25 balls, four boundaries and three sixes), Tilak Verma (30 in 25 balls with three fours and a six) and Tim David (24* in 13 balls with a four and two sixes) were the main run-getters for MI.
For KKR, Suyash Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with 2/27 in four overs. Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy and Lockie Ferguson took a wicket each. Venkatesh Iyer got the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century. (ANI)