‘Giving the first hour to the bowlers’ – Arjun Tendulkar speaks up after his maiden First Class century

Arjun Tendulkar, on Wednesday, scored his maiden First Class century for Goa. His previous best came when he smashed 91 against Uttar Pradesh in a U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy fixture for Mumbai in the 2018-19 season. The left-hand batter 120 off 207 against Rajasthan in the ongoing Ranji Trophy fixture in Porvorim.

In no time, he was all over social media timelines, and the majority of the congratulations posts had the “like father, like son” message. When Arjun reached 100 on his FC debut for Goa, he joined the likes of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the company of the very best. The 23-year-old after the day’s play got over, posted a video of his hundred celebrations on Instagram with the caption “BUMPY ROADS HAVE THE BEST DESTINATIONS. MAIDEN 1st CLASS 100. #HARDWORKPAYS”. His sister Sara also posted a series of posts appreciating her brother’s efforts in the middle.

I honestly don’t care how I look: Arjun Tendulkar

Arjun came into bat in a very difficult situation. The first task at hand was to finish the day’s play’s remaining overs and “save” a well-set Suyash Prabhudesai, who was still going strong well after fifty at that point. The youngster performed when stumps were called on the first day, he had done an excellent job of serving as the night watchman and making sure there were no more losses.

“When I first walked out to bat I had to face most of the balls because Suyash was batting on 80 so it was my job to protect him and play most of the balls. The opening session of the second day was all about “giving the first hour to the bowlers,” Arjun told reporters after the play ended on Day 2.

“As of the approach today, it was more about the basics. Just give first hour to the bowlers. After we grit the initial phase out, it’s time to capitalise. And time to get runs. As I said, it was the new ball and the new ball would do something. I honestly don’t care how I look, I gritted the first difficult phase out and then I cashed in,” said Arjun.