Setbacks continue for Arjun Tendulkar as Mumbai drops all-rounder for Ranji 2022 knockouts

The Indian Premier League setback for 22-year-old uncapped India cricketer Arjun Tendulkar continued as he was excluded from Mumbai’s squad for the forthcoming Ranji Trophy Knockouts. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) announced a 21-member Mumbai squad for the Ranji Trophy 2022 Knockouts, which commences for Mumbai on June 6, with their game against Uttarakhand. While well-known India batter Prithvi Shaw was announced as Mumbai’s captain, Arjun was one notable absentee from the squad. 

The 22-year-old allrounder is the son of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and was constantly linked with reports about his speculated IPL debut for Mumbai Indians, throughout the IPL 2022 season. Youngsters like Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Hrithik Shokeen and Tilak Verma, alongside several other players, went on to make their debut for MI, however, Arjun was not given a chance to prove his mettle. Cricket enthusiasts and predominantly Sachin Tendulkar's fans were particularly miffed with this matter as they expected the player to finally play his debut in the tournament. 

Arjun Tendulkar joined MI in 2021

It is pertinent to mention here that it has been two years since the young allrounder has been associated with MI, however, he is yet to get a chance to represent the team. Mumbai Indians bought him at his base price of 20 lakhs during the IPL 2021 auctions, before buying him back for 30 lakhs at the IPL 2022 mega auctions. Tendulkar has the experience of playing two T20 games for Mumbai in the 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he returned with two wickets.

Having said that, the knockout stage of Ranji Trophy 2022 will begin on June 6, with the quarterfinals. While Mumbai face Uttarakhand in the 2nd quarterfinal, Bengal are against Jharkhand in the first. On the other hand, Karnataka face Uttar Pradesh in the 3rd quarter-final, while Punjab and Madhya Pradesh lock horns in the fourth quarter-final. Mumbai reached the quarterfinals by finishing at the top of the Elite Group D with two wins in three games, and 16 points to their name.

Mumbai squad: Prithvi Shaw (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Bhupen Lalwani, Arman Jaffer, Sarfaraz Khan, Suved Parkar, Aakarshit Gomel, Aditya Tare, Hardik Tamore, Aman Khan, Sairaj Patil, Shams Mulani, Dhrumil Matkar, Tanush Kotian, Shashank Attarde, Dhaval Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi, Roystan Dias, Siddharth Raut, Musheer Khan

(Image: @mumbaiindians/Instagram/@BCCIDomestic)