No.10 Arjun bends it like Papa Sachin!

21 Feb, 2007
Tendulkar Jr.'s team lost the match, but for this little guy, the game's just begun .

A lazy bumblebee buzzed through the dusty breeze, kicked up by dozens of little soccer boots under a bright and blazing sun, highlighting the beads of perspiration on the anxious foreheads of coaches and parents as they cheered their charges on to score.
It was late morning when the Junior 'B' soccer team of Dhirubhai Ambani School took on the Navy Junior team at the Mumbai School Sports Association ground at Azad Maidan, and the excitement both on and off the field was palpable.

And why all the excitement? Arjun Tendulkar, son of Little Master Sachin himself, was breaking in his new boots, having just started to play soccer.

Arjun occupied the centre-forward position and kicked off the second half, showing good team-player skills and keeping to his position. He tackled just as well as any of the other players, and had possession for quite some time.

"He's just started training. He's in his own world most of the time," said Bernard Pereira, one of the coaches.

Anjali Tendulkar, who watched over her son with an appraising eye, at first offered "no comment" but later admitted with a smile that her son "might not even talk". She conceded with the delight of a proud mother, "He's just started playing."

When the final whistle was blown, the boys had lost the match, and as they made their way back to their car, Anjali asked Arjun, "Want some water? Are you tired?" To which he replied, the indomitable spirit of a person not easily defeated evident on his furrowed brow, "I'm not tired!"