Arjun Tendulkar is No Different from Other Kids, Says India Under-19 Bowling Coach
All eyes will be on Arjun Tendulkar when India U-19 leave for Sri Lanka next month. Son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun received his maiden call from the national Under-19 team early this month.
The 18-year old was named in the squad for the four-day matches that India will play against the Islanders. A tall left-arm pacer, Arjun can extract late swing.
He is also a handy lower-middle-order batsman. Arjun, however, could not find a place in the One-Day squad which will play five matches against the hosts.
Well, given the hype surrounding Arjun, the India A U-19 coaches might feel some pressure on handling him. However, for bowling coach Sanath Kumar, Arjun would be no different than any other player.
“Ask him about how he would handle Arjun considering his selection had garnered a lot of attention,” Kumar told PTI
“I don’t know about that as it’s not my area of concern but as a coach, all the boys are equal for me. For me, Arjun is no different from other kids. My job is to bring the best out of each and every one of them.”
Arjun impressed for the Mumbai U-19 in Cooch Behar Trophy last season. He ended the tournament with 18 wickets at an average of 25.22, which also included two five-wicket hauls and one four-for.
Early this year, he impressed in his debut game in the Spirit of Cricket Global Challenge in Australia. Playing for Cricketer’s Club of India (CCI) against Hong Kong Cricket Club (HKC) in a T20 match, Arjun delivered an impressive all-round show. He scored 48 off 27 balls before picking up four wickets in four overs.
Kumar has earned a reputation for successfully coaching smaller states (Assam to Ranji Trophy semi-finals, Andhra to Vijay Hazare semi-finals) and will be coaching a national team for the second time. When asked about his current tenure, he said,
“I worked as a coach with Indian women’s team in 2008 during their tour of England. This time I am contracted to work till the end of the U-19 Asia Cup in Bangladesh in October.”
Sanath further spoke about how he would prepare the players for the upcoming series.
“Look, in a short span of time, you can’t really work a lot on the technical aspect as they will be playing matches. I would like to focus more on the strategic part. Would like to prepare the boys for match situations with simulations,” he said.
“For any fast bowler, the more he can land the ball on the seam, the more effective he can be. So landing the ball on the seam and how to use the crease, bowling closer to the stumps are certain aspects I would like to focus during the camp,” Kumar said.
The camp starts from July 1 at the NCA in Bengaluru.
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India U-19 Cricket team
