IPL 2023: Arjun Tendulkar makes MI debut against KKR; Rohit misses out

It was a big day for the Tendulkar family on Sunday (April 16) as batting legend Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun Tendulkar made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut, playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2023.

Arjun was handed MI debut on his home ground – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. MI’s regular skipper Rohit Sharma missed the game after catching a stomach bug and Suryakumar Yadav was the stand-in captain. However, Rohit’s name was in the substitutes’ list.

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Rohit handed over MI cap to Arjun before the start of play. After MI won the toss and opted to field first, Arjun opened the bowling.

Sachin and Arjun are the first father-son duo to play in the IPL. Sachin had played for MI from 2008 to 2013, and had also captained the franchise. Sachin spoke to Arjun during warm-ups and Sara, Arjun’s sister, was cheering from the stands.

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The 23-year-old Arjun is a left-arm paceman. So far, he has played seven first-class matches, seven List A, and nine Twenty20s. Last year, he made his first-class debut for Goa.

He has played for Mumbai Under-14s, Under-16s, and Under-19s.

Arjun was bought for Rs 30 lakh by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 players’ auction and was retained ahead of this year’s tournament.