The all-around bowler for the Mumbai Indians, Arjun Tendulkar, delivered a magnificent opening over for his side on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium during his first-ever IPL 2024 outing for the squad against the Lucknow Super Giants. The Australian batter, however, took exception to the young player’s aggressive move of threatening to run out Marcus Stoinis on the final ball and became enraged.
In Mumbai’s last league encounter, Arjun came into the attack in the second over of the game after home team captain Hardik Pandya chose to bowl first. Arjun had replaced Jasprit Bumrah in the playing XI. He gave up three runs in the over but bowled four dot balls against Stoinis, including an LBW scare for the Australian.
Arjun promptly picked up the final ball, which was an inswinging length ball, and Stoinis guarded it while pretending to have a shy at the stumps. The bowler’s aggressive move, however, infuriated the batsman, who yelled at Arjun, who smiled to return the gesture.
It was Arjun’s debut IPL 2024 participation. He impressed many seasoned cricketers with his performance in his IPL debut last year, taking three wickets in four games for the Mumbai Indians. He did not, however, start in any of the first 13 league games of this season after being benched for the majority of Mumbai’s disastrous 2023 campaign.
Mumbai, on the other hand, has already lost the playoff race. The Hardik-led team has only four wins this season, which puts them at the bottom of the standings. In addition to helping them close out the season well, a victory over LSG would move them up to the night slot in the points standings and maybe keep them from getting the wooden spoon, since Punjab Kings, despite having a game remaining, would be displaced.
