Arjun Tendulkar follows in his illustrious father’s footsteps

Sachin Tendulkar was going through his final days on the field in that second Test against the West Indies, there was another ball-boy who was attracting copious media attention.

The 1987 World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium was the last time the great Sunil  Gavaskar was representing his country. Unknown to anybody, history was being created that fateful day. A tiny school lad was doing the duty of a ball-boy on the fence in that match against England. Incredibly, the boy went on to play the very next edition of the World Cup.

In the years to come, and in the evening of his career, he bulldozed almost all of Gavaskar’s batting records and went on to become as the — widely acknowledged — greatest batsmen since the incomparable Don Bradman.

Towards the evening of his career, the ball-boy of the 1987 World Cup was the toast of the 2011 World Cup at that very venue. Tendulkar was chaired by his team-mates after India went on to win the quadrennial showpiece.

And on December 16, 2013, the fairytale career came to an end; Wankhede Stadium was yet again the venue where the ball-boy of 1987 saddened an entire nation while bidding farewell to international cricket. But even as Tendulkar was going through his final days on the field in that second Test against the West Indies, there was another ball-boy who was attracting copious media attention. It was Arjun Tendulkar, the maestro’s son, who shunned the air-conditioned comforts of the pavilion, to be in the thick of cricketing action while his father played his 200th and final Test.

History was repeating itself.