Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun is a talented cricketer who may one day play for India. Or so the Sydney Morning Herald tells us.
Little Arjun is just 12 years old, but some are already touting him as a future Indian star.
Chris Barretts report that Tendulkar’s 8-22 in a school match and its subsequent media coverage leads some to discuss his potential career as an international bowler.
Here’s where the hyerbole stops. The attention on Arjun and the hype around him is very unfair. The kid should be allowed to just play cricket and enjoy it. Being compared to one of the world’s greatest ever cricketers, and maybe its greatest ever batsmen, is both harsh and expected.
There have been so many father-son combinations to play top-class sport – from the Marshs in cricket to the Bothams in cricket and league, the Reddys in league and football and countless countless others. Sporting families with talent among the parents and their children is common. And the debate continues to rage, is it nature or nuture that makes a brilliant sports star? Is it environment, genes or luck? Or is it a bit of both?
As the son of Pele and Jordi Cruyff will tell you, being the son of a legendary athlete is no guarantee of success. Often it makes the journey that much harder, as the offspring has to deal with constant comparisons and more expectation and pressure than others their own age.
12-year old Arjun might play for India in the future. Representing a cricket-mad country with more than a billion people would be no mean feat. But for the time being lets focus on his father’s attempt to score his 100th international century, and let the kid play. Let him remain a child for a few more years and revel in the simple love of the game. It’s not much to ask, and it’s a time he will never have back once it’s gone.
Let’s focus on what could be an enthralling series, an ageing Indian team against an Aussie side trying to resurrect itself as the world’sbest. The number two Test nation against a home team with its tails up after a first win in the series. And the best batsman since Bradman in action on our shores for the very last time.
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