Arjun Tendulkar picks up maiden five-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy ahead of IPL 2025 AuctionÂ
Goa left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar bagged his first-ever five-wicket haul in first-class cricket after a brilliant spell against Arunachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. The 25-year-old, son of the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, finished with figures of 5/25 in nine overs as the opposition was skittled out for just 84 runs at the Goa Cricket Association Ground in Porvorim.
Arjun shared the new ball with Lakshay Garg after being put into bowl first by the opposition, and wreaked havoc straightaway. He dismissed Nebham Hachang for a duck in his first over, and struck twice in the 12th over of the innings. The left-arm seamer completed his fifer in the 18th over, and was responsible for all of the five wickets to fall in the innings.
He was recently released by the Mumbai Indians (MI) as they chose to retain their core group of players. Prior to his brilliant fifer, Arjun had chipped in with some key contributions in the Ranji Trophy. He scored a crucial 42 in the win over Nagaland, and overall took 11 wickets in three matches.
Goa were dominant on Day 1 of the contest after bowling out Arunachal Pradesh in just 30.3 overs. The Darshan Misal-led side scored at will with the bat, and as of writing, are placed at 337/2 after 43.2 overs, close to stumps.
Arjun Tendulkar has picked up 32 wickets in 16 first-class appearances
The youngster had switched bases to Goa after having represented Mumbai at the junior level. He made his debut against Rajasthan in 2022, recording his maiden hundred as well to make an instant impression.
Since then, Arjun has played 16 first-class games, picking up 32 wickets at an average of 37.75, and scoring 532 runs. In white-ball cricket, he has 36 appearances to his name since his debut in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Mumbai.
He even represented the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), gathering a set of appearances in the 2023 season in particular. He was released with the mega-auction coming up on the horizon. He leaves the franchise with five appearances to his name, where he picked up three wickets with an economy rate of 9.37.