Arjun Tendulkar was part of the expanded Mumbai Indians squadron in their disastrous IPL 2022 campaign. He was picked by the franchise at the auction in the 2021 edition of the tournament. However, the youngster spent both seasons without playing a single game for the Rohit Sharma-led side.
Quite recently, during an interaction with Sportskeeda, former New Zealand speedster and Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond explained Tendulkar’s omission from the playing XI. According to the legendary Kiwi, the 22-year-old needs to improve his batting and fielding abilities in order to find himself in the field.
Bond said, “He’s got some work to go. When you’re playing for a team like Mumbai, making the squad is one thing but entering the playing XI is another. He still has a lot of hard work and development to do. When you play at this level, there’s a fine line between giving everyone a game… but you have to earn your spot too. Arjun needs to work on his batting and fielding before finding a place on the team. Hopefully, he can make those progressions and earn a spot in the team.”
So far, young Tendulkar has played competitive cricket for junior Mumbai sides as well as for the Marylebone Cricket Club Young Cricketers.
He has also represented the senior Mumbai team in two Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches last year. Across both games, the left-arm pacer picked up two wickets.
As it turns out, Mumbai Indians suffered their worst ever seasonal performance this year by finishing at the bottom of the points table. They ended the tournament with just four wins from their 14 league matches.