Mumbai Indians pacer Arjun Tendulkar drew a lot of criticism after he conceded 48 runs in three overs against Punjab Kings in an IPL 2023 game. Out of those three overs, he conceded 31 in one over alone. Playing only his second IPL match, Arjun, son of the great Sachin Tendulkar, became part of an unwanted tally. Arjun's 31-run over was the second most expensive over by an MI bowler in the IPL. Daniel Sams holds the first position as he conceded 35 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2022. For the third position, there is a tie between three players as Pawan Suyal against Royal Challengers Bangalore (2014), Alzarri Joseph against Rajasthan Royals (2019) and Mitchell McClenaghan vs PBKS (2017) had conceded 28 runs each.
However, against Gujarat Titans, Arjun Tendulkar made a brilliant comeback as he scalped opener Wriddhiman Saha. On the first ball of the third over, Saha edged a pull down leg, and MI players went up in unison for a caught behind. He was given out and DRS also confirmed the decision. Tendulkar was ecstatic after the dismissal.
Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher backed Arjun Tendulkar, who went for 31 runs in the 15th over of PBKS' innings. Arjun was the most expensive MI bowler, conceding 48 runs in three overs at an economy of 16.
"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.
With PTI and ANI inputs