Superstar-in-making Tilak Varma opens up on receiving advice from Rohit, Kohli ahead of West Indies tour
WI vs IND 2023: Tilak Varma opens up on receiving advice from Rohit, Kohli
A future superstar in the making, Tilak Varma received his maiden India call-up for the five-match T20Is against West Indies. Playing for South Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, Varma revealed receiving advice from stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and how he dreams about playing for India and bailing them out of trouble in crunch games.
India captain Rohit Sharma, who also leads Mumbai Indians, a franchise Tilak Varma plays for, showered praises on the 20-year-old last year, predicting him to burst onto the international scene sooner than expected.
"Having such a calm head is never easy, and in my opinion, I feel he's going to be an all-format player for India pretty soon," Rohit said about Varma in May 2022.
One year later, the prediction came true as Varma, alongside young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got their maiden call-ups to the Indian team.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Duleep Trophy semis against North Zone in Bengaluru, Tilak revealed the India call-up wasn't on his mind currently, and when he received the information ofhis selection (from his childhood friend), and informed his parents, they turned emotional and shed happy tears while being on a video call with him.
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"I was not thinking about the national side," Varma said. "My mom and dad were crying on video call yesterday; they were very emotional. My childhood friend called me [saying] you have got selected. That was the time — around 8 o'clock [pm] — that I knew I was selected."
Thanks to the platform that IPL is, Tilak, quite early in his career, was able to rub shoulders with the legends, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit and Virat. Opening up on receiving advice from them, Tilak said,"I have heard a lot from Rohit bhai and Sachin sir, and also from Virat [Kohli] bhai. They always say that when you are in good form, your subconscious mind is in the right place," Varma said. "They also tell me to play close to the body… they always tell that [preparing] off the field is very important."
IPL treasure set to begin international journey
In IPL 2023, the young swashbuckler scored 343 runs at an impressive strike rate of 164, the third-best among Indian batters.
Although he is yet to begin his international journey, Tilak revealed he already dreams about playing crunch knocks for India in World Cup.
"I visualise every night how I can bat: if in a World Cup match, we are four or five down for 40 or 50, from there on, how can I take the team forward? It helps in making it easy for me," Varma added.
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