Arjun Tendulkar makes it to the U-19 squad, perhaps for the final time

Just 12 days short of turning 19, Arjun Tendulkar often finds himself getting ignored for berths in Under-19 squads for various tournaments. However, the left-arm cricketer on September 11 got yet another call, may be his final, to play in a U-19 tournament as he was picked in the Mumbai squad for the 6th All India Under-19 JY Lele Invitational One-Day Tournament starting September 16.

Mumbai will be led by Suved Parker in the tournament which will be held in Vadodara, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Joint Secretary Umesh Khanvilkar informed in a statement, Mid-day.com cited reports as saying.

Arjun, son of legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, made his India U-19 debut against Sri Lanka when he played a couple of unofficial Tests in the island nation in July. He took three wickets in four innings and scored 14 runs in two innings. The cricketer has also been found bowling at senior international players at the nets and sharing work with ground stuff or even selling radios outside the stadium in England.

Arjun has failed to earn berths in U-19 squads of late

Arjun failed to make the cut in any of the three India U-19 squads that were recently announced – one for the upcoming U-19 Asia Cup, another for the quadrangular series involving Afghanistan ‘A’, Nepal ‘A’ besides India U-19 ‘A’ and India U-19 ‘B’.

It was believed that Jr Tendulkar was not considered for the U-19 teams since he will soon be over 19 and not eligible any more for the next U-19 World Cup to be played in South Africa in 2020.

As of now, Arjun can focus on the invitation tournament as his final appearance in U-19 cricket and before embarking on a tougher road to compete with senior cricketers to earn a berth in the national side.

Mumbai squad: Suved Parkar (Captain), Divyansh Saxena, Arsalan Shaikh, Karan Shah,Pragnesh Kanpillewar, Arjun Tendulkar, Praful Devkate, Hashir Dafedar, Yash Salunkhe, Saksham Parashar Vaibhav Kalamkar, Atharva Ankolekar, Kesar Singh Thapa, Bhushan Jalawadkar, Uzair Khan and Balwant Singh Sodha.

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