NAVI MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians' latest discovery Tilak Varma, who smashed an amazing 33-ball 61, inclusive of three fours and five sixes on Saturday against Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Stadium, went through times but persisted with cricket, his father Nagaraju, an electrician by profession, told TOI from Hyderabad.
"We had limited resources financially, but Tilak kept his focus on cricket at all times. It was Tilak's coach Salam Bayas who believed in his talent, and that changed his life for good," Nagaraju, 52, told this paper.
The Hyderabad teenager's early cricketing journey resembles that of a budding cricketer in most metros. "All his hard work is paying off now. He has been passionate about cricket since he was 12. He would wake up by 4am, get ready and leave to play cricket at Uppal (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium), which is 30km from our place. His coach's academy at Lingampally too was far from our place. His coach really helped by allowing him to stay at his place many times due to the distance issue," recalled Nagaraju.
"Had my coach and parents not backed me, I wouldn't have come so far. I dedicate this innings to all of them," the youngster said on Saturday.
After he notched up 700-plus runs in six matches with four centuries at an average of 86.56 in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 2018-19 for Hyderabad, the stylish left-hander was picked up in the India U-19 team for the triangular series in South Africa and the World Cup in 2020. India finished runners-up to Bangladesh in the Under-19 World Cup, with Tilak scoring 38 and 48 in the two games that he got. On his Ranji Trophy debut against Andhra in 2018-19, he scored 5 and 34.
Shrugging off the hardships caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, as his father failed to find work, Tilak scored 391 runs in five matches for Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers in 2021-22. His impressive show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (215 runs in 7 games, strike rate of 147.26) prompted MI to bid for him. Overall, Varma, who scored 381 runs for Hyderabad in 15 T20 games and 784 runs from 15 List A matches, has played four first-class games.
"He first wanted to play for the India Under-19 team, then for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, then in the IPL. Now, he wants to play for India," said Nagaraju.
Interestingly, Tilak's elder brother played badminton "Nationals" at one point, but had to quit the sport and focus on education. "He has completed his B.Tech. It's important that he gets a job," said Nagaraju.
The family's hardships, though, ended once Tilak was bought by MI for Rs 1.70 cr in the IPL Auction in February. "Credit to MI that they picked him up," said the proud father. Nagaraju and his wife Gayatri even came down to Mumbai to watch his son's IPL debut, for MI against Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium in CCI last Sunday. "This is the first time we saw him play, since he had requested us to do so. Thanks to his hard work, we got to stay in a seven-star hotel for the first time in our lives and watched the match from the VIP box. However, we've now come back to Hyderabad as we were living in a bio-bubble there. We watched his wonderful knock today. I spoke to him post the match, but he seemed a bit down as MI lost the game. Both times (he scored 22 on debut), he was playing well, but got out at the wrong time and MI lost," he rued.
"MI is a very big franchise, and also my favourite. They have worked a lot behind me in all categories - power hitting, they are also working on my bowling and boosting my confidence by allowing me to play freely. There are a few legends in the team - Sachin (Tendulkar)sir , Rohit (Sharma, MI captain) bhai, Polly (Kieron Pollard), (Jasprit) Bumrah - so that boosts me while playing. I thank MI for backing me," said Tilak.
How will they celebrate their son's arrival in the big league? "We'll distribute sweets in the neighbourhood. All our neighbours and friends are calling up and want to celebrate," said the proud father.
