Sourav Ganguly Reacts on Arjun Tendulkar's Selection in India Under-19 Team

Former India skipper, Sourav Ganguly extended best wishes to Sachin Tendulkar’s son, Arjun Tendulkar who recently received his maiden India Under-19 call.

The 18-year got named in the squad for the four-day matches that India will play against Sri Lanka. 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 Island nation.

“Lots of wishes to him. I have never seen him play. I hope he does well,” Ganguly said.

While Arjun still has a long way to go before he carves his own identity in the game, he is definitely on the right path. The youngster, who trains at the indoor academy at Lord’s, has bowled to Indian and English teams in the nets in the past.

Last year, Arjun landed a yorker on Jonny Bairstow’s toe to give him an injury scare ahead of the South Africa Tests. He also bowled to the India women’s team ahead of their World Cup final against England at Lord’s last year.

The 18-year old impressed for the Mumbai U-19 in Cooch Behar Trophy last season. Arjun 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.

Meanwhile, Ganguly, a self-confessed football buff, further said he would be rooting for his favourite team, Brazil in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

At the same time, he expressed his desire of seeing some magic from Argentina superstar, Lionel Messi.

“I am looking forward to Messi magic. He’s yet to win a World Cup. It’s going to be a big World Cup for him,” said Ganguly.