I did a piece yesterday on Arjun Tendulkar and tried to talk about the burden of the surname. As expected, it polarised opinion. While a lot of people – yes, a significant number – empathised with Arjun, there were many who continued with the nepotism charge and said he was given all the facilities to succeed and yet hasn’t been able to achieve much. They argue that he is privileged and therefore deserves no empathy.
My point is simple. Arjun hasn’t done anything to deserve being trolled either. He was picked up by LSG and remained on the bench for the entire season. Ask anyone in the franchise and they will tell you he trained diligently, turned up on time for every practice session, was a perfect teammate and did everything that was asked of him. To be a Tendulkar and sit on the bench couldn’t have been easy. And yet, in his mind, he was Arjun and not Arjun Tendulkar – just another cricketer waiting for his opportunity.
He was finally given an opportunity against Punjab Kings and, to be honest, did a decent job. We need to deal with Arjun without emotion – both negative and positive. Just because he is a Tendulkar, he does not deserve extra scrutiny. Equally, he does not deserve favours either. All he needs is to be left alone and not trolled or castigated for no reason.
Many have asked why he decided to play cricket. Some have said that, with a bowling speed of 130 kmph, he has no future and should have opted to bat instead. This is where things go off track. What he wants to do is entirely his choice. If he is not good enough, his team management will leave him out. But to be told he is wrong to play cricket is ridiculous. It comes with the assumption that, because he is a Tendulkar, he has to perform at a certain standard.
Going forward, I do not know if Arjun will get more opportunities to play, or if LSG will retain him. What I do know is that, just like every other player, it is entirely his decision to pursue his passion and his dreams. If he fails, he fails. And he is as entitled to fail as everyone else.
Coming to Sachin, the tweet said it all. It was a father tweeting for his son, and that came through very clearly. Sachin knows how hard it is to wait for an opportunity and how mentally difficult it can be. He had spoken to Ajinkya Rahane about exactly this on the day of his retirement in 2013. And yet, he stayed away and let Arjun go through the grind. That is how it should be, and that is why the X post was instructive.
I wish Arjun well. Having seen him grow up, I have observed him in close proximity and know the values the family has instilled in him. All of that was on show this season, and that is what will stand him in good stead going forward.
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