Arjun Tendulkar opens up on personal challenges ahead of LSG's IPL 2026 season; ‘had two stress fractures back-to-back’

Being the child of any legendary figure is a double-edged sword. While the outside world is busy measuring your stride against theirs, you are often left to carry the quiet burden of expectations that you were not expected to begin win at the first place. For Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, the 26-year-old is not out to prove anything to anyone.

Ever since Arjun made an entry to senior cricket, the soft-spoken lad was repeatedly being compared with his father, who ruled the game for 24 years. Putting an end to all the comparisons reiterated he plays the game out of passion. “I am not here to prove anyone. I am playing cricket just for my passion. Just keep working hard, there's nothing to prove to anyone,” Arjun told in Shubhankar Mishra's podcast recently.

Arjun made his Mumbai debut in the domestic circuit in 2021 in T20s. But lack of opportunities due to star power, forced him to shift to Goa the following year. It was in 2021, Arjun also grabbed his maiden IPL deal with Mumbai Indians. However, his IPL debut came two years later in 2023.

Arjun opens up on time with Yuvraj Singh

After spending five years with Mumbai Indians, it was time for Arjun to move on. The left-arm speedster was traded to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for ₹30 lakhs ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. While he is gelling well with his new teammates, the Tendulkar junior spent a brief time with his idol Yuvraj Singh too in Mumbai, before the season started, something that didn't came out in public until LSG's Rishabh Pant revealed in training.

Speaking on his time with Yuvraj, Arjun stated that worked on two things specifically with the two-time World Cup-winner. “With him, I worked on my back-lift, and also I worked a little bit on my grip,” revealed Arjun.

Speaking on his challenges Arjun went 11 years back, which he considers to be the lowest in his career. “I had two stress fractures back-to-back at the end of 2015. because of that I lost a whole year because I had to remodel by action. As a result, I lost a whole year in U-19 also. U19s are make or break for any player and to lose a year of that is obviously a setback,” he added.

Does Arjun like Impact Player rule in IPL?

The youngster also opened up on the highly-debated Impact Player rule. It allows a team to field an extra batter or bowler, depending on the situation during the course of the match. “Personally, I am against the impact player rule,” was Arjun's straight-forward answer.

While it is a nightmare for the bowlers, for the batting team, it's a blessing in disguise. “Traditionally cricket is played with 11 players on each side. Because of this rule, the par scores also gets increased by 20 runs as the teams enjoy the luxury of an extra batter,” explained Arjun.

“I feel the normal cricketing rule should stay because no other T20 leagues or international cricket has this impact player rule,” he concluded.