Arjun Tendulkar included in India U-19 squad for Sri Lanka tour

Arjun Tendulkar, son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, was named in the India under-19 squad that’ll tour Sri Lanka next month. India are due to play two four-day and five one-day matches against the island nation. However, Arjun has only been picked to feature in the two four-day ties.

Delhi’s Anuj Rawat will lead the side in the four-day format while Aryan Juyal has been named skipper for the limited-overs ties. Arjun, who is 18 years old, was part of the under-19 camp held in Dharamsala last week. Unlike his father, Arjun falls more in the bracket of a bowling all-rounder. He had taken a four-for and slammed a 27-ball 48 earlier this year while participating in the Spirit of Cricket Global Challenge in Australia.

Arjun has also represented Mumbai in the under-14 and under-16 formats. In the Cooch Behar Trophy last season, Arjun had played in five of the six games and taken 18 wickets in the tournament, including two five-fors and a four-wicket haul. He, however, had a poor return with the bat, scoring just 94 runs in five innings at an average of 18.80.

Arjun is one of the most-followed junior cricketers owing to his father’s stature, which also attracts extra scrutiny and dealing with massive amounts of pressure. Ever since his teenage days, comparisons have been drawn between the father-son duo which had even prompted the former Indian skipper to step in and urge his son to be left alone.

Last year, Arjun was seen bowling at the India nets during the home series against New Zealand in Mumbai while a toe-crushing yorker that he sent down to Jonny Bairstow in the nets in England, had left the latter with an injury scare. However, he’s yet to make a mark of his own and would want to use the under-19 opportunity to good use.

Earlier this year, Arjun had opted out of the Mumbai T20 league since he wanted to remodel his bowling action which he felt wasn’t ready for competitive tournaments. According to several reports, his father, who was also the brand ambassador of the league, was learnt to have guided him to take the decision.

Squads:

India U19 squad for 2 four-day games: Anuj Rawat (C) (WK) (DDCA), Atharva Taide (VCA), Devdutt Padikkal (KSCA), Aryan Juyal (VC) (WK) (UPCA), Yash Rathod (VCA), Ayush Badoni (DDCA), Sameer Choudhary (UPCA), Siddharth Desai (GCA), Harsh Tyagi (DDCA), Y.D. Mangwani (MHCA), Arjun Tendulkar (MCA), Nehal Wadhera (PCA), Akash Pande (GCA), Mohit Jangra (UPCA), Pawan Shah (MHCA).

India U19 squad for one-days: Aryan Juyal (C) (WK) (UPCA), Anuj Rawat (WK) (DDCA), Devdutt Padikkal (KSCA), Atharva Taide (VCA), Yash Rathod (VCA), Ayush Badoni (DDCA), Sameer Choudhary (UPCA), Siddharth Desai (GCA), Harsh Tyagi (DDCA), Y.D. Mangwani (MHCA), Ajay Devgaud (HYD), Y. Jaiswal (MCA), Mohit Jangra (UPCA), Akash Pande (GCA), Pawan Shah (MHCA).