Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun makes his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders

By India Today Sports Desk23-year-old left-arm fast bowler Arjun Tendulkar made his much-anticipated Indian Premier League debut as he was picked for the first time in the Mumbai Indians playing XI for their crucial IPL 2023 game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Son of legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, who is also the mentor of Mumbai Indians, Arjun Tendulkar was handed the MI cap by Rohit Sharma as he replaced Arshad Khan in the playing XI. The left-arm pacer was bought by MI in the IPL 2022 auction at his base price of Rs 30 lakh and retained for the IPL 2023. Arjun was first bought by MI at the IPL 2021 auction at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

Notably, Arjun was ruled out of the IPL 2021 season during the 2nd half of the tournament in the UAE due to an injury. He did not play a single game throughout the season. Arjun was also included in the initial Ranji Trophy squad of Mumbai in December last year as the left-arm pacer was named in the side led by Prithvi Shaw. Arjun, who is a handy lower-order batter as well, spent time in England in 2019, playing for MCC Young Cricketers.

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Although he began his cricket career in Mumbai, Arjun relocated to Goa for more regular game time and took 12 wickets in seven Ranji Trophy games while playing for them. The 23-year-old all-rounder also demonstrated his batting abilities, scoring his first first-class century. However, his best performance came in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he took 10 wickets in seven matches.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI)Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI)Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Riley Meredith