Know Arjun Tendulkar, raring to follow in Sachin's footsteps

New Delhi: Soon Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar will be biding adieu to all formats of cricket but his 13 year old son Arjun Tendulkar is working hard to fit himself in his dad's boots. Though Sachin Tendulkar is a rightie, his son is a left handed batsman. Recently, Arjun scored his maiden ton in the selection trials for Mumbai under-14 team. Arjun usually follows his dad during practice nets and takes Sachin's advice and batting tips. Moreover, Arjun is a step ahead to his dad as he is a left arm medium pacer. Arjun Tendulkar is trained with none other than Zaheer Khan at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex facility in the lead-up to the Kanga League tournament. He also had Ajit Agarkar and Yuvraj Singh for company.Arjun Tendulkar in his debut match had impressive figures of 7-2-35-1.But, Sachin is very possessive about his son's privacy. Playing the role of a protective father, Sachin Tendulkar asked the media to leave his "cricket mad" son Arjun alone and allow him to play the game without any pressure.He also said that he wanted his 14-year-old son to have his own identity and not be compared with him.At the Sports Journalists' Association of Mumbai event, Sachin told reporters: "My son has played a match today. First club match, an official match. He is passionate, he is madly in love with cricket. But the other things that go around the cricketer and not just the on-field activity but whatever he gets to hear or gets to read or the way it gets projected, I would appreciate if everyone allows him to be himself and to have his own identity and enjoy his cricket above all,".Sachin added, "Since I am here and the entire sports journalists' fraternity is sitting over here, I am going to be a protective father. When I started playing cricket, though my father was a professor and was in literary field, at no stage I had this pressure from anyone who said you are playing cricket but how about following your father's footsteps,"."At no stage of my life, there were comparisons. He (Arjun) started his career, so it is a humble request if he can live his life like a normal 14-year-old, without thinking about anything else except falling in love with this sport," he said.