Arjun Tendulkar makes rare T20 history, achieving what even Sachin never did

In a landmark moment for Indian domestic cricket, Arjun Tendulkar accomplished a rare feat in T20 cricket that even his legendary father, Sachin Tendulkar, never achieved. 

Playing for Goa in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, Arjun became one of the very few cricketers to open both the batting and the bowling in the same T20 match—a remarkable double that puts him in an exclusive category.

This historic milestone came during Goa’s league match against Madhya Pradesh. Arjun, recently promoted to open the batting in T20s for Goa, was also given the new ball. For the first time in his career, he bowled the opening over while also opening the batting, officially entering the record books.

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On the day he made history, Arjun delivered an all-round performance. He took three wickets for 36 runs in his four overs and contributed 16 runs off just 10 balls at the top of the order. Across the five matches he has played this SMAT season, Arjun has scored 70 runs and taken eight wickets, proving his growing value to the Goa side.

Despite being a consistent opener in T20 cricket and one of the format’s biggest stars, Sachin Tendulkar never opened the bowling. The Master Blaster bowled only 93 deliveries across 96 T20 matches, taking just two wickets. While Sachin played India’s first-ever T20 International in 2006 and won the Orange Cap in IPL 2010 with 618 runs, opening the bowling was never part of his T20 repertoire.

Arjun started his senior career with Mumbai, making his T20 debut in the 2020-21 season, and also scored a century on his Ranji Trophy debut. Now representing Goa across all three formats, he is steadily carving out his own identity in Indian cricket.