File photos of Sachin Tendulkar (left) and Arjun Tendulkar.
Arjun Tendulkar has been butt of all jokes off late after the left-handed Mumbai pacer was picked up at the IPL 2021 auction by defending champions Mumbai Indians at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
The fact that he is the great Sachin Tendulkar's son has not been very kind on him. Eyebrows were raised every time in the past when the 21-year-old bowler was selected for the India U-19 team or the Mumbai domestic team and the debate of nepotism heated up
However, this time around things took a turn for worse as deplorable memes went trending soon after Arjun became the last player to be picked at the IPL auction. The fact that he is a young cricketer, who just made his debut for Mumbai in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and played two games, scoring three runs and picking two wickets, didn't help his cause either as the criticism only intensified.
Amid all this hullabaloo came Sachin's tweet on Saturday where the legend praised Virat Kohli for opening up in an interview on a bout of depression he suffered while playing for the Indian team.
Sachin's tweet read: "@imVkohli, proud of your success & decision to share such personal experiences. These days youngsters are constantly judged on social media. Thousands speak about them but not to them. We need to be able to listen to them and help them flourish."
His words on "youngsters being constantly judged on social media" almost felt like a cryptic tweet where Sachin opened up to the critics that the allegations of nepotism pointed at his son are unfair and could only further demoralise him when the focus should be on nurturing the talent he is.
While one might still make a point that the tweet was only dedicated to Kohli and not his son, one can't ignore the fact that Sachin has been quiet about all the allegations directed towards him and his son and this is his respectful way of answering the naysayers that all his son deserves is a chance to prove his worth without being judged on the social media.
