'Arjun is representing MI because he is an all-rounder '- Rashid Latif reacts to 'son can't reach Sachin's stature' remark
"Had Arjun come in as a batsman, he may not have gotten selected," said Latif.
Despite having only played two matches for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), all eyes are on Arjun Tendulkar. Former India batter Sachin and Arjun do not have many similarities. Arjun is a left-arm fast bowler who can bat, whereas his father was one of the greatest batters of all-time.
Arjun's batting has yet to be tested in the IPL as he has not got a chance to bat in the two matches so far. However, the 23-year-old cricketer hit a century in his Ranji Trophy debut. Furthermore, in a recently shared video by MI, Arjun was seen hitting it big in the nets.
Dr. Nauman Niaz recently asserted that Arjun could never have surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's stature. "Sachin's benchmark is so high that as a batter, his son couldn't have reached that stature. Reacting to the same, Rashid Latif reckoned that Arjun was chosen by the five-time IPL champions because he is an all-rounder.
"Arjun must have seen a lot of Zaheer Khan, Wasim Akram, Ashish Nehra. Then he must also have bowled plenty to his father. See when Sachin used to bat, the likes of Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid hardly got a chance. So, it's quite possible that everytime the father-son duo played at home, Arjun did most of the bowling," said Latif on his YouTube channel.
"This could be a reason why he became a bowler. That must have ended up playing a role in Arjun's future. Arjun is representing Mumbai Indians because he is playing as an all-rounder. Had he come in as a batsman, he may not have gotten selected. An all-rounder is more in demand,” he added.
Arjun made his IPL debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), bowling two overs and finishing with 0/17. He also played against Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he defended 20 off the final over while dismissing Bhuvneshwar Kumar as his maiden IPL wicket.
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