Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have had a torrid 2022 season, with only three wins in their 13 games. They have been rooted to the bottom of the table since the very beginning and will hope to end their season on a winning note when they take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in their final league game of the season.
Delhi themselves will be chasing two crucial points as they hope to achieve yet another top-four finish with eight wins in 14 matches. But the fans' focus remains on Arjun Tendulkar, the son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, and many believe that the 22-year-old should make his IPL debut in the final league-stage fixture for the Mumbai outfit.
But one former India batter, Mohammad Kaif, believes that his team MI would have definitely played him if they thought he was ready, "If MI felt Arjun Tendulkar was ready, they would have played him by now. I think they feel he still needs to work on his game. Why would a captain wait till the last game to try out a player?
If he was good enough, he would have already been in the playing XI. I don’t think Rohit Sharma is a captain who would try out a player just because it is the last match. MI would want to go with their best combination and try to win this game," Kaif told Sportskeeda before the MI-DC game.
Arjun is a left-arm medium-pacer and was bought by Mumbai for Rs 30 lakh during the IPL 2022 mega auction in February. Many fans have backed the youngster to play his first-ever IPL game come Saturday. One person who has backed the youngster is former India coach Ravi Shastri and expects him to get an opportunity in the dead rubber game between the two sides.
“Why not? I have seen him in the nets. The Tendulkar name is a big name and he has very big boots to fill. But he bowls ‘theek thaak’ (decent), swings the new ball into the batters and is tall so gets the bounce too. So why not? If they have lost 11 matches then why does it matter? If they give Arjun a chance and if he does well in his first match it’s good for the future," he told ESPNCricnifo.
Earlier in the season, after their elimination from the competition was confirmed, Rohit said that the team will try out many of their players before the end of their underwhelming season. "We will try everything we can from our side to put our best foot forward in the last game. If there is an opportunity to try out some more guys, we will look to do that too," Rohit said after MI's defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
