Arjun Tendulkar cracks maiden hundred

After soaking in some of his father’s centuries, Arjun Tendulkar, 13, finally announced himself on his own small stage.Arjun, son of India’s batting giant Sachin Tendulkar, notched up his maiden hundred in Mumbai Cricket Association’s U-14 summer vacation tournament at Sunder Cricket Club, Cross Maidan on Saturday.

The left-handed opener smashed 124, while his teammate Varun Lawande hit 94, as Khar Gymkhana defeated Goregaon Centre by an innings and 21 runs in the semifinals played over two days.Arjun’s knock was laced with 14 hits to the fence and one six.Khar Gymkhana chased down 143 to set up a final with Chembur Gym Centre. Goregaon Centre were dismissed for 178, courtesy Pranay Pandit’s six for 43.

Tendulkar’s son has been making headlines for quite some time now. In February, he hammered 65 off 39 balls against PCMC Varroc Vengsarkar CA in the Cadence Trophy (30-over) under-13 tournament at Mundhwa, Pune. Arjun, who also bowls left-arm, had figures of eight for 22 to help Dhirubhai Ambani International School beat Jamnabai Narsee School in November last year.

Khar Gymkhana coach Rajesh Sanil was effusive in praise of junior Tendulkar.

Describing Arjun’s knock, Sanil said, “It was a well-planned innings. He has got good strokes and hits the ball well. Also, the way he and Lawande planned the innings was good to see. Since Arjun is a left-hander, he would face left-arm spinners, while Lawande would go after off-spinners.”

He added, “He is quite a dedicated boy who arrives before time for practice. He has got the spark which a promising youngster should have. In a certain match, he was disappointed after being dismissed cheaply. He worked hard on his game only to follow up with a 64 against Tata SSL Centre earlier this week. He enjoys his batting, keeps working on it, which is really good to see.”

Brief scores (S/F): Goregaon Centre 143 (Pranay Pandit 6/25) & 178 (Sammit Pawar 74*, Anand Williams 53, Pranay Pandit 6/43) lost to Khar Gymkhana 342 (Arjun Tendulkar 124, Varun Lawande 94, Darshan Borkar 4/30, Vignesh Solanki 4/68); Chembur Gym Centre 219 (Maxwell Swaminathan 66, Ashutosh Jaiswal 5/61) beat Kandivali Centre 74 (Rajveer Kaushal 4/19)

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