Arjun Tendulkar gets picked for India U-19 squad, here’s what emotional Sachin Tendulkar had to say

Sachin Tendulkar’s son, Arjun Tendulkar has been roped in the India Under-19 squad for two four-day matches in Srilanka in July.

Standing at 6 ft 1 inch, the 18-year-old is a left-arm bowler and a lower-order batsman. Two India U-19 squads were announced in Bengaluru on Thursday with Anuj Rawat and Aryan Juyal leading the side.

Proud father, Sachin Tendulkar also expressed his happiness over Arjun’s selection and sent a brief message to the media from London, “Thanks for good wishes. We are really happy about Arjun’s selection. It’s an important milestone in his cricketing life. Anjali and I will always support Arjun in his choices and we will pray for his success.”

Arjun’s coach, Atul Gaikwad said that Arjun’s hard work had finally paid off. Atul Gaikwad is a level-3 coach from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) with a Ph.D. in biomechanics. He has also worked for Brisbane’s centre of Excellence and he was appointed by Sachin to coach Arjun three years ago.

Praising his hard-work and dedication, Gaikwad said, “I have seen the boy very closely. From suffering back to back stress fractures three years ago to struggling with injuries, he has worked really hard to get there. ”

Full squads:

Four-day games: Anuj Rawat (C) (WK) (DDCA), Atharva Taide (VCA), Devdutt Padikkal (KSCA), Aryan Juyal (VC) (WK) (UPCA), Yash Rathod (VCA), Ayush Badoni (DDCA), Sameer Choudhary (UPCA), Siddharth Desai (GCA), Harsh Tyagi (DDCA), Y.D. Mangwani (MHCA), Arjun Tendulkar (MCA), Nehal Wadhera (PCA), Akash Pande (GCA), Mohit Jangra (UPCA), Pawan Shah (MHCA)

One-day squad: Aryan Juyal (C) (WK) (UPCA), Anuj Rawat (WK) (DDCA), Devdutt Padikkal (KSCA), Atharva Taide (VCA), Yash Rathod (VCA), Ayush Badoni (DDCA), Sameer Choudhary (UPCA), Siddharth Desai (GCA), Harsh Tyagi (DDCA), Y.D. Mangwani (MHCA), Ajay Devgaud (HYD), Y. Jaiswal (MCA), Mohit Jangra (UPCA), Akash Pande (GCA), Pawan Shah (MHCA)

Steve Waugh's son made it to Australia's U19 team. Ntini's son got selected to play for SA U19. Cricket fans over there never criticised that. Only in India, we have nepotism charges when a former cricketer's son gets selected. Go get a life guys.
#ArjunTendulkar

— Vignesh A P (@respondvignesh) June 7, 2018

Waiting for Rahul Dravid asking the captain to declare the innings when #ArjunTendulkar is batting at 194*

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) June 8, 2018

It is not "Sachin's son" who is picked for India U19. It is Arjun Tendulkar, a player in his own right and we must respect that.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 8, 2018