Subroto Banerjee was working on the fitness level of his old ward Varun Aaron at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon, when he received a call from a known number.
As he took the call, a young voice from the other end sounded happy and slowly said, “I was bowling to Johny Bairstow, and a yorker hit him hard. He is injured…”
The excitement was missing as the youngster described the incident to his coach. But then, having known the ‘kid’ for years now, Banerjee understands that’s how his ward, Arjun Tendulkar, is calm, composed. “You would never hear him speak a word loudly. Unlike most of the boys of his age, Arjun doesn’t show his emotions much,” Banerjee tells Sportstar .
The former India pacer, who has been training Arjun for three years now, admits that the youngster has picked up this speciality from his father—Sachin Tendulkar. “Sachin always tells him to keep things simple and not think about your today’s achievements. This is just a job, and it is better to think about tomorrow—that’s what Sachin tells him,” Banerjee explains.
On a day when the social media is abuzz with the news of Arjun sending Bairstow hobbling off , the youngster is actually unfazed. “During the half-an-hour long conversation, we only spoke about how to focus on the game. Even as he spoke about Bairstow, he didn’t sound too excited. Rather he was busy talking about his stint with the MCC,” Banerjee says.
The young Tendulkar has been playing with MCC this season, and a couple of days back, he took a five-for and scored 48 runs during a game against a Namibian side. “Even after performing well, he asked me how to do better. These are the things that make him more likeable,” Banerjee, who happens to be a childhood friend of Sachin, says.
There have been instances when people have raised a few eyebrows about Arjun not making an impact, even at the age of 17. But his coach makes it clear that neither he nor Sachin are in a hurry. “We want him to stay at the top for a longer time, and for that it is important that you give the youngster enough time to get ready,” Banerjee says, adding that things will be clearer when Arjun starts playing for Mumbai at the U-19 level. “Only then, we will get a clearer picture of where he stands. As of now, things look okay with him. It’s just that, we don’t want him to peak early and fizzle out fast. It is better to have a slow and steady beginning,” the former cricketer says.
For this, however, both he and Sachin have made it a point to guard Arjun from all the limelight. “Sachin doesn’t want any special treatment for Arjun. He wants him to find his own way to success,” he says. Even Sachin had requested the media a couple of years back to give Arjun the required space. “We have all done our bit of struggle and we want Arjun to do the same thing,” the coach says.
Coming back from a back injury, Arjun has slowly started picking up, and the vastly-experienced coach feels this trip to England will help him grow more ahead of the U-19 sojourn. “Hard work is the key and Arjun always makes it a point to learn whatever is told to him. He is a sincere kid,” Banerjee says.
Switching off from what’s being written about, Arjun is now busy preparing for the next match. After all, even he knows there would be more Bairstow yorkers waiting for him if he can hit the bull’s eye. The eye is on the future!
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