Mumbai Indians (MI) owner Akash Ambani said Arjun Tendulkar, who was picked by Mumbai in the IPL 2021 auction should be allowed to progress as any other young cricketer. Arjun was picked at his base price of Rs 20 lakh at Thursday’s auction. “Like Mahela (Jayawardena, head coach) and Zak (Zaheer Khan, director of cricket) said previously, Arjun has a beautiful skill set. He is a left-arm fast bowler and can bat. There are not many of those in world cricket,” Akash Ambani said in a video posted on MI’s social-media channels. 

“It’s very important that his process and his progression happens as any other young cricketer’s progression happens. 

“Fortunately, at MI we help individuals reach their potential. It’s all on their hard work but we believe we have the environment to do that and hopefully we will see Arjun reaching his potential in the coming years,” Ambani added. 

Arjun has played for India U-19 and recently made his debut for the senior Mumbai T20 team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. 

He played two T20s in that tournament and picked up two wickets with a best of 1 for 33. 

While this is the first time Arjun is part of an IPL playing squad, previous experiences of bowling in the India nets and Mumbai nets could come handy for the 21-year-old. 

Promoted

Arjun’s was the last name to come up in the auction on Thursday and Mumbai were the only team to bid for him at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. 

His father Sachin played for Mumbai Indians from 2008 to 2013.