After Arjun Tendulkar made a sedate Indian Premier League (IPL) debut last month, many cricket fans have compared him with his father and cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, and cast doubts on his skills. Suresh Menon writes on why such comparisons are unfair to the young pace bowler. Few players have had the spotlight trained on them in the IPL to the extent Arjun Tendulkar has. This was inevitable, given his surname. It takes a particularly brave son to follow in the footsteps of a father widely considered to be the best in the field. Of Mozart's two adult sons, both gifted pianists, one chose to become an accountant and translator, while the other was a composer and teacher. They didn't have to deal with social media trolling if they got something wrong.

Arjun isn't so lucky. When he gave away 31 runs in an over against Punjab Kings, the word "nepotism" figured in many reactions. When he bowled an excellent final over against Sunrisers Hyderabad, conceding just five runs while defending 20, there were fewer responses. To paraphrase Mark Anthony, the terrible lives on, the good is often forgotten. At 23, the left-arm medium pacer might not be the fastest or most exciting bowler to appear on the national scene. At 130 kmph, his speed is not guaranteed to hurry batsmen used to the pace of Anrich Nortje or Jofra Archer.

But he still deserves to be left alone to grow at his own pace, in his own time. Arjun's father Sachin was good enough to play for the country at 16 and was recognised as the best batsman in the world at 19. He finished with more matches, more runs and more centuries than anybody else. That is not an easy legacy to live up to. It is instructive to remember that Don Bradman's son changed his name to Bradsen for years - and he wasn't even a cricketer. To follow your father into the so-called family business is both a blessing and a curse. It opens doors initially, but thereafter the younger man has to live with inflated expectations. Can you be Arjun Tendulkar and hope to escape this?

He began dramatically enough. Last December, playing for Goa, he started his first-class career with a century. This year in the IPL, after being in the dugout for two years, he nearly claimed a wicket in his first over. He knows that every success will be greeted by renewed hyperbole in the media and every failure by exaggerated criticism. Every father secretly (or otherwise) hopes that his son overtakes him, does better than him, but few actually do in sport. Ron Headley, son of George Headley (often called the 'black Bradman'), played two Tests for the West Indies. But he appeared mostly for England, where his son Dean was born, and went on to play 15 Tests for the country. Two generations found the surname hard to live up to.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP