“He’s the extra bowler, and he doesn’t have to bowl four overs,” says Tom Moody of Arjun Tendulkar’s role with the Mumbai Indians.

In the Mumbai Indians’ last match against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Arjun Tendulkar was not reintroduced to the attack despite conceding only nine runs in his first two overs. Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody referred to Arjun as an extra bowler in the playing XI and explained why Rohit Sharma did not deliver him the ball after the powerplay while discussing the same topic.

Notably, during Mumbai’s IPL 2023 match against the Punjab Kings, the 23-year-old gave up 31 runs in the 16th over as Sam Curran and Harpreet Singh wrought havoc. Consequently, this may have been one of the reasons why Rohit Sharma turned to Cameron Green in the final overs against GT. However, the Australian international conceded 39 runs in two overs at an economy rate of 19.50 as Gujarat scored 207 runs.

Tom Moody clarified that the decision to hand Green the ball at the end of the game was correct because Green is an international bowler and Arjun is not.

“There is no assurance that the third over will be reached. When you get greedy and think, “Let’s just try to get that extra over,” even the best bowlers, the most experienced bowlers, are frequently lined up.

“Tendulkar performed his job. Once more, he is the recipient of the sub. He is an additional bowler. In addition, the additional bowler is not required to complete four overs. He contributed well at the top of the order, claimed a wicket, and conceded nine runs. You cannot contend until the cows come home that he should have bowled over death instead of Green. Moody stated to ESPNCricinfo that Green, the international bowler, has bowled inadequately.

However, when it came time to follow, Mumbai’s batters fell short of expectations. In the second over of the innings, captain Rohit Sharma returned to the pavilion, while Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tim David were unable to do much damage. In the end, Mumbai scored only 152 runs, resulting in a 55-run loss. As a result, they remain seventh on the IPL points table, while Gujarat climbs to second.