In the second over of the first innings against Gujarat Titans, Arjun Tendulkar, dismissed the in-form Wriddhiman Saha, giving the former champion Mumbai Indians the much-needed breakthrough. Saha attempted to pull a short delivery from Junior Tendulkar delivered down the leg side, but the ball went straight to the keeper, kissing Saha’s gloves. Even though the GT hitter had taken the DRS, this did not prevent him from going back to the dressing room.
Soon after taking the wicket, Arjun got injured while fielding as he was positioned at deep mid-wicket. The ball had hit Arjun’s thigh. We went off the field and the physio rushed to him. However, by the end of the fourth over, the pacer returned to the field.
Arjun’s bowling in powerplay was so impressive that he was even compared with Rajasthan Royals’ Trent Boult who is probably the best bowler to bowl in first six overs in IPL 2023. Another topic that became talk of the town on Twitter was Arjun bowling against Shubman Gill in the first over.
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Here’s how Twitter reacted –
He’ll whack it outta the park and show you how it sails through the air too – Harry Brook _#SRHvDC #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/ar6t314xu3
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 24, 2023
Arjun Tendulkar under Rohit captaincy pic.twitter.com/j7KhoxneRy
— . (@__croc__) April 25, 2023
Arjun Tendulkar bowling to Shubman Gill _ pic.twitter.com/Asu5EzELkT
— Cricket Updates Official (@Cric8_updates) April 25, 2023
Happy to see Mumbai indians back Arjun Tendulkar even after last match 31 runs over.#ArjunTendulkar #GTvMI #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/WVrX5oaK0e
— Masum (@masum_twt) April 25, 2023
The wicket celebration by Arjun Tendulkar. pic.twitter.com/UlPru3Juac
— vinay sublaniya (@SublaniyaVinay) April 25, 2023
Oh bhai Edit..__
Arjun Tendulkar vs Shubman Gillpic.twitter.com/osegutcLpD
— Rudra_ (@Mee_Rudra) April 25, 2023
Sara Tendulkar while watching match between ShubmanGill and Arjun Tendulkar _#GTvsMI #GTvMI pic.twitter.com/5ptef3bVQ2
— Abhinav Jha __ (@abhinavj617) April 25, 2023
— vinay sublaniya (@SublaniyaVinay) April 25, 2023
Perfect example of Kisi Ka bhai Kisi Ki Jaan doesn’t exists.
Shubman Gill | Arjun Tendulkar#GTvMI #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/LH0Tmz8h5u
— Lmak (@LaughingAsss) April 25, 2023
Arjun Tendulkar should take Gills wicket. #GTvMI pic.twitter.com/F2zQaBNmAl
— Shreyansh (@shreyansh__11) April 25, 2023
Arjun received harsh criticism after the last game for giving up 48 runs in three overs against Punjab Kings. Arjun was playing his third IPL game when he achieved as an unwanted record. The second most expensive over by a MI bowler in the IPL was Arjun’s 31-run over. First place goes to Daniel Sams, who gave 35 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2022. For the third spot, three players are tied since they each gave up 28 runs each—Pawan Suyal against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014, Alzarri Joseph against the Rajasthan Royals in 2019, and Mitchell McClenaghan against PBKS in 2017.
Mark Boucher, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, supported Arjun Tendulkar after he leaked 31 runs in the 15th over of PBKS’ innings. “I think Rohit, who is a very experienced cricketer, felt that he would bowl Arjun at the 14th-15th over. That was a better match-up at that stage in the game. Sometimes, they (decisions) go your way and sometimes they do not. Unfortunately, it did not go his way, and, in hindsight, sometimes the match-ups do not work and that is just the nature of T20 cricket,” he said.
“It will be tough on him (Arjun), coming in to bowl at the back end at Wankhede where the conditions were good to bat on. He, maybe, got one or two (deliveries) wrong, he probably felt under the pressure but he will live and learn from it. It is not the end of the world; it is still not the early days but mid days in the IPL and, hopefully, he will come back stronger. He has full support of the support staff and players to try and get over this as quickly as possible,” Boucher added.