Growing up, Arjun Tendulkar saw his legendary father Sachin pile on the runs that made him one of the greatest cricketers to have played the game.
Often seen in public with Sachin in the national team’s practice sessions, he was learning the tricks of the trade, talking to fellow players.
And while Arjun will be hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps in the cricketing arena, Vidya Paradkar, who is training him as part of an under-16 camp at Bombay Gymkhana, believes the youngster has natural cricketing abilities that few people possess at his age.
“He has very good eye-hand co-ordination and very few people have that skill,” said Paradkar, who is coaching the UAE-based Yogi Group Cricket Club.
“His father (Sachin) and Sir Viv Richards had this because the eye-hand co-ordination is a unique thing. You have to make quick judgements with the feet and hands which is difficult. I know two people – Arjun and another boy who is eight-years-old who has this skill and it’s a rare feat as only one or two out of 10,000 boys would have this.”
Having worked with him for only three months, the 68-year-old was quick to point out it’s too early to suggest whether Arjun, a left-arm batsman, can make a career in the game.
He said: “When the boy reaches 19 years old, we will know of his batting and bowling abilities, not before that.
“I know more than 20 people in Mumbai who have scored 300 runs in a school cricket tournament, and they haven’t played first-class cricket. Why? It’s because how you take the pressure that comes with it. At 19, 20 and 21, is the real age to develop as they have to look after themselves.”
Arjun works on his drills at Bombay Gymkhana “twice a week”, and Paradkar remembers the time when he first saw him after his coach Rajesh Sanil brought him.
He said: “When I saw him first, he was a leg-side player and he wasn’t playing his shots on off-side. He has a very natural bowling action and has very good foot movement. He has so much knowledge of the game which is incredible given his age.”
Arjun is just one of the hundreds of promising cricketers Paradkar is coaching. He also coached fast-bowler Zaheer Khan, who has gone onto represent India.
It was back in 1996, that Paradkar saw Khan at National Cricket Club in Mumbai as a 17-year-old. And from that moment he knew he was destined for a promising future.
“He had the height. He had the hands and fingers and that’s what impressed me when I first saw him,” said the former NCC assistant coach.
“People were laughing at me at why I’m coaching him because he didn’t have that athletic background but I knew if I worked with him he could go a long way and he’s done that.
“When he came to Mumbai, he had stud shoes because he couldn’t afford the traditional footwear," Paradkar recalls. "He came with his father at the time and since many boys were using the nets at the time, I told him to wait until they were free and I would assess Khan.”
After running twice a day, Khan improved his fitness, that was troubling him as he wasn’t that athletic, as well as his bowling.
Having improved considerably at NCC, where Khan was hitting a single stump seven times out of 10, Paradkar remembered one special moment of brilliance.
He said: “He was playing Shivaji Park Gymkhana at Hindu Gymkhana ground in Mumbai. He took seven wickets and one of my friends was so impressed that he told me that one day he will go on and play for India.”
Having been overlooked to represent Mumbai, Khan played for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy, where he took four wickets against Gujarat. He followed it up with five wickets against Mumbai in 1997.
He said: “I remember him phoning me because he was worried whether he would play. I told him he would prosper and knew there would be some selectors who wanted to see him play.
“The selectors were impressed and he was named in India’s ICC Champions Trophy in 2000 and the rest is history.”
