Legendary India captain Kapil Dev has come out in support of Arjun Tendulkar, the son of the great Sachin Tendulkar after Mumbai Indians (MI) coach Shane Bond's recent comments about the 22-year-old cricketer created some kind of furore in the cricket-crazy nation.
Shane Bond, the bowling coach of five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians revealed on Thursday that Arjun Tendulkar wasn't given his debut cap by the franchise as he was not yet ready to be a part of the playing XI.
“He's got some work to do. 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,” Bond told Indian media outlet Sportskeeda.
“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,” the former New Zealand pacer added.
Bond's remarks immediately went viral on social media with several Twitter users alleging that the Mukesh and Nita Ambani-owned outfit was promoting “nepotism” in their camp.
They even claimed that if Arjun wasn't Sachin Tendulkar's son, he wouldn't have found a place in the nets of any of the IPL teams, leaving aside being a part of the squad.
But the allegations of fans were not without a reason as despite spending two seasons with the Mumbai-based outfit, Arjun Tendulkar was yet to play his first game for them.
During the IPL mega auction in February, Mumbai Indians had purchased Arjun Tendulkar, paying $38,650 (INR 30 lakh) for his services.
After MI lost their first eight matches in IPL 2022, Arjun Tendulkar's supporters were hoping that he would be handed his debut cap by the franchise.
While several other youngsters, including Ramandeep Singh, Sanjay Yadav, Tristian Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, and Kumar Kartikeya were given opportunities, Arjun continued to warm the bench till the conclusion of the tournament last week.
However, the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev has now hit out at Arjun Tendulkar's critics, saying that the young boy should be left alone as such trolling can affect his mental well-being.
Moreover, Kapil Dev advised Arjun Tendulkar to stay focused on his cricket and continue working hard to improve his game so that his detractors don't get a chance to criticise him in the future.
Kapil Dev minced no words after launching a scathing attack on all those people who have been comparing Arjun with his legendary father Sachin Tendulkar, saying all those comparisons were unfortunate.
Kapil Dev even disclosed that the son of Don Bradman, the Australian batter widely regarded as the greatest cricketer ever, had changed his name after comparisons with his father put undue pressure on him.
“Why are you talking about him? You are talking about him because he is Sachin Tendulkar's son. Let him play his own cricket and do not compare him with Sachin. Let me tell you something about Don Bradman, his son changed his name because he could not deal with that kind of pressure. He removed the surname Bradman because everyone was expecting him to be like his father,” Kapil said on Uncut YouTube channel.
“Don't put pressure on Arjun. He is a young boy. It is unfair. To have a Tendulkar name has its advantages and disadvantages as well. Who are we to say anything to him when Sachin has been such a big player? But I would still just like to tell him one thing: Go and enjoy yourself. No need to prove anything. If you can become even 50 percent like your father, there is nothing better. When the name Tendulkar comes up, our expectations rise because Sachin was such a great. We should just let him be and we should tell him to just enjoy his cricket,” he added.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar had discussed how his son's path to cricketing glory was set to be “challenging” but he was confident that he could overcome all those challenges with his hard work.
“What I am thinking or what I feel is not important. The season is already over,” Tendulkar stated on his YouTube channel ‘SachInsight'.
“And my conversation with Arjun has always been that the path is going to be challenging, it is going to be difficult. You started playing cricket because you are in love with cricket, continue to do so, continue to work hard and results will follow,” he concluded.
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