Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: A debate has broken out over Arjun Tendulkar’s chances in IPL 2026 after Ravichandran Ashwin said the youngster is unlikely to feature for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). With a strong pace attack already in place, Ashwin felt Arjun would struggle to break into the playing XI.Speaking about the team combination, Ashwin said, “Arjun Tendulkar khelega hi nahi (Arjun Tendulkar won’t play at all), and let’s not even go there. I think it is very difficult because there are Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Mohammad Shami in this lineup. There are so many fast bowlers. How will he play? I don’t think he makes any case unless and until there are a lot of injuries.”
His blunt take did not go down well with former India cricketer Yograj Singh, who strongly criticised Ashwin for his comments.Yograj Singh’s strong responseHitting back in an interview with InsideSport, Yograj, father of superstar cricketer Yuvraj Singh, said, “He is talking bulls**t, this guy, R Ashwin, whoever he is. He should know what to talk about somebody. Somebody’s sitting on the television and talking,’ Oh, he can’t do this, he can’t do that’. Who are you? What are you?”He also shared his own views on Arjun’s abilities, saying, “He is Sachin Tendulkar‘s son, that is a different story. When he was here, I told Yuvi, that all of you are concentrating wrong on Arjun Tendulkar. “He is not a bowler, he had a spine problem, and his hands come down from 45 degree. When he was here, I was talking to him. I told his coach as well when he was with the Goa team.”Backing his confidence, Yograj added, “If you can’t do it. Send him to me, I challenge the whole world that if Arjun Tendulkar spends six months with me, he will surpass all the batters in this world. If not, I will cut off my beard and throw it.”LSG Squad (* denotes Overseas players): Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram*, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke*, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Marsh*, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran*, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Inglis*, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Anrich Nortje*, Wanindu Hasaranga*, Naman Tiwari.
