NEW DELHI:
Sachin Tendulkar was the very first captain of the
Mumbai Indians. In the inaugural edition in 2008, Sachin was the icon player as well. His son
Arjun was 8 years old back then. As a kid, he would come to the ground and cheer and clap for his father and his team. After the match, the veteran cricketer would sometimes take his son out onto the ground.
Sachin played 78 matches for Mumbai Indians between 2008 and 2013 and scored 2334 runs at an average of 34.84. He also hit one century and 13 half-centuries during his six-season stay at MI. He was part of the first IPL title win for the blue brigade in 2013.
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IPL 2023: Ishan, Suryakumar lead Mumbai Indians to easy win over KKR
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<p>Ishan Kishan (58) and Suryakumar Yadav (43) led the charge as Mumbai Indians handed Kolkata Knight Riders a five-wicket defeat in their Indian Premier League match in Mumbai on Sunday.<br /></p>
<p>The fastest century in this year’s IPL for Venkatesh Iyer — 104 off 51 balls (6x4s, 9x6s) — went in vain for KKR, who suffered their ninth defeat in 10 matches at the Wankhede Stadium, and an overall 23rd in 32 matches against Mumbai Indians.<br /></p>
<p>The highlight of Mumbai Indians’ win was not just their sturdy response with the bat chasing 186, but their key middle-order batter Suryakumar banishing batting woes with a 25-ball 43 laced with four fours and three sixes.<br /></p>
<p>Suryakumar also stepped up to lead Mumbai Indians in the game in which regular captain Rohit Sharma played as an impact substitute owing to a stomach bug as MI won with 14 balls to spare, finishing at 186/5 in 17.4 overs.<br /></p>
<p>Tim David struck an unbeaten 24 off 13 balls with two sixes and a four as MI recorded a second successive win while chasing.<br /></p>
<p>The platform, however, was laid early by Kishan and Rohit, who went hammer and tongs from the second over onwards to add 65 for the first wicket in 4.5 overs, attacking the KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur in particular.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The first-wicket partnership looked ominous for KKR who managed to break through, with Umesh Yadav taking a fine diving catch at mid-on off Suyash Sharma in the fifth over. Rohit fell for a 13-ball 20 with two sixes and a four after helping MI past 50-run mark inside four overs.<br /></p>
<p>On the other end, Kishan brought up his fifty in 21 balls with five fours and four sixes. His charge was stopped by Varun Chakravarthy, with the KKR mystery spinner cleaning up Kishan after a 25-ball 58 with five sixes and as many fours.<br /></p>
<p>The rookie leg-spinner Suyash claimed his second wicket in the form of Tilak Varma, in the 14th over, who played one onto his wickets after a 25-ball 30 (3x4s, 1x6s) having added 60 from 38 balls with Suryakumar for the third wicket.<br /></p>
<p>Earlier in the afternoon, Iyer’s maiden century in IPL powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 185/6. The 28-year-old India and KKR batting all-rounder Iyer waged a lone battle with the bat against Mumbai Indians, recording his highest score in the IPL as well as this season among all batters.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Iyer, who hit the ton in 49 balls, bettered the record set by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Harry Brook a couple of nights ago in terms of fastest century this season, who made 100 from 55 balls against KKR.<br /></p>
<p>While Iyer, who injured his knee at the start of his innings while attempting a ramp shot off Cameron Green, dominated the Mumbai Indians bowlers, none of the KKR top-order batter could trouble the scorers.<br /></p>
<p>While most of the KKR batters did not last long enough, Iyer also did well to score heavily in his 48-run stand for the second wicket with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8), 50 runs for the fourth wicket with Shardul Thakur (14) and 36 for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh (18).<br /></p>
<p>Nitish Rana (5) also had a game to forget with the bat, mistiming one to long on off Shokeen and walked away after exchanging a few words with the spin bowler.<br /><br /></p>
<p>KKR’s latest sensation Rinku fell for a run-a-ball 18 with two fours and all-rounder Andre Russell freed up his arms, scoring his first double-digit total after three games to finish on 21 not out from 11 balls (3x4s, 1x6s).<br /></p>
<p>MI handed debut to Arjun Tendulkar who opened the attack and got the ball to swing back into the KKR right-handers, sending down two largely impressive overs.<br /><br /></p>
On Sunday, the Wankhede stadium erupted in joy. Sachin was not on the field, but in the MI dugout and his son Arjun was handed a debut IPL cap by MI and India captain Rohit Sharma.
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Arjun Tendulkar makes IPL debut for Mumbai Indians
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<p>Arjun Tendulkar’s long wait to play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL finally ended on Sunday when he made his debut against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. </p>
<p>In the process batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Arjun became the first father-son pair to play in the IPL. </p>
<p>Sachin Tendulkar, who would have been a proud man on Sunday and who is mentor of the franchise and was in the dugout, played for MI from 2008 to 2013. </p>
<p>Arjun replaced fellow left-arm seamer Arshad Khan in the starting XI and opened the bowling for MI from the North Stand End. </p>
<p>Arjun bowled two overs and conceded 17 runs in the process. </p>
<p>Arjun conceded just five runs in his first over and troubled KKR openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Narayan Jagadeesan. </p>
<p>Incidentally, Sachin Tendulkar’s first over in the IPL too was against KKR and it went for five runs. </p>
<p>Arjun was handed the MI cap by Rohit Sharma, who was the impact player in the game skippered by Suryakumar Yadav. </p>
<p>Arjun had to wait for two seasons before he could take his IPL bow. </p>
<p>Arjun was bought in the 2021 auction for Rs 20 lakh before he was retained in the 2022 mega auction for Rs 30 lakh. </p>
<p>At the start of the 2022-23 domestic season, Arjun had quit Mumbai and moved to Goa seeking more game-time.</p>
<p>Arjun scored his maiden First-Class century on his Ranji debut against Rajasthan, emulating dad Sachin, who had scored a ton against Gujarat in 1988. </p>
Emotions were high in the MI camp, especially for father Sachin who was visibly proud and was seen clapping and cheering for his 23-year-old son Arjun who was making his way to the middle and opening the bowling attack for the Mumbai Indians vs KKR.
MI vs KKR Highlights 2023: Ishan, Suryakumar guide Mumbai Indians to five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders
“It was a new experience for me as till now I have not gone and watched him (Arjun) play. I just wanted him to have the freedom to go out and express himself and do what he wanted to do. Today also I sat in the dressing room because I didn’t want him to move away from his plans and start looking at the mega screen here and suddenly realise I was watching there,” Sachin was quoted as saying in a video posted by the Mumbai Indians.
Opening the bowling for MI on Sunday vs KKR, the left-arm seamer conceded 17 runs in two overs. He couldn’t take a wicket, but did trouble the KKR batters initially.
“It was a great moment, it is a special moment to play for the team I have supported since 2008. It was very nice to get the cap from the captain of MI and Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma,” Arjun said.
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