He had an impressive IPL debut with Mumbai Indians, scoring 397 runs at a strike rate of 131.02, the most by a teenager in an IPL season, and breaking Rishabh Pant’s record of 366 runs in 2017. It also prompted Sunil Gavaskar and Rohit Sharma to say that Varma could be an “all-format batter” for India. What impressed Gavaskar the most was his temperament.

After his blazing 46-ball 84 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday, Varma’s childhood coach Salam Bayash feels his ward must continue this form as it would take him closer to his dream of playing for India.

How did it start?

On a random evening, Bayash spotted a southpaw playing tennis cricket with his friends and was left awestruck by his style of batting. He rushed to the then 11-year-old Tilak Varma to find out more information.

Raaj Tilak kiya jaaye!#RCBvMI #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema | @tilakv9 pic.twitter.com/ZH2an11pra

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“I first saw Tilak at Barkas ground, where he was playing tennis ball cricket with his friends. I ask him where he trains. He said ‘I play on this ground only. That is when I called up his father. I requested him to enrol Tilak at the academy as he had the potential,” Bayash told the Indian Express.

Tilak’s father, Namboori Nagaraju, an electrician by profession, was reluctant to let his son play cricket due to their financial condition.

“His father didn’t agree initially because of their financial constraints. Their house was 2 kilometres from my place, and I said I would take on the responsibility of Tilak’s transport. You don’t have to pick him up and drop him off everyday, and I will also waive off his fees. Then they agreed,” he added.

Tilak Varma with his coach when he received his first player of the match award

The bike ride

The cricket academy where Tilak Varma trained was in Lingampalli, Hyderabad, some 40 kilometres from his home, Chandrayan Gutta, the old city of Hyderabad. But Varma rarely missed a day’s practice because his coach, Salam Bayash, used to ferry him the entire distance on his bike. Every single day.

Namboori Nagaraju says if not for Salam Bayash, Tilak would never have made it this far.“Coach said trust me and leave him in my hands’; he told us to have full faith in him. ‘Your child is talented, give him moral support’. This is what Bayash sir told us.”

From then onwards, everyday, Bayash would pick up Varma at 5 am and take him to the academy. Sometimes, he would fall asleep on the bike.

“Bachha tha, kabhi kabhi baithe so jata tha (He would sit behind me and doze off sometimes. I used to be very cautious because in the morning, sometimes, he will fall asleep. I told him just grab me tightly so that the moment he used to lose that grip, I would understand that he is sleeping. I would stop the bike, and wake him up. Ask him to wash his face with water. It went on for a few months,” laughs Bayash.

“After a year, I requested his father to move closer to the academy so that he could avoid this tiring journey. They obliged, his father got a job near the academy and I was no longer scared of driving the bike in fear that Tilak might fall down.”

A sleepy Tilak Verma on the bike of his coach while coming back to his home from training.

Financial obstacles

Living close to the academy was one thing, but he didn’t have proper cricketing gear. He even scored his first century with a borrowed bat. A good bat would cost him Rs 4-5k, but his father didn’t have the money to get him a new willow.

The coach offered a solution. “He faced a lot of financial problems. It was difficult for him to afford a bat or any other cricketing gear. After seeing this, I used to set targets for him. Do well in the upcoming tournament, score a few centuries, bag the best batsman award, and I will get you a bat,” says Bayash.

Four years later, Tilak had a brilliant Vijay Merchant Trophy, scoring over 900 runs for Hyderabad and was picked for Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy probables. A year later, in 2019, he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Hyderabad.

The guru-shishya tradition

In the IPL 2022, during a game between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede, Varma’s folded hand celebration after winning the match was towards his coach, who was watching him play from the stand.

Bayash spilled the beans behind that celebration: “Before that match, he was throwing away his wicket, and I got really pissed at him. So, I was watching that match, he finished the job and that gesture was towards me to see that I can finish the games.”

“Last year, when he was at NCA before he was picked for the India A. He failed to score in the first three games. He called me ‘sir, I am not able to score runs in red ball’. I asked him to describe the way he was getting out, all the shots were unconventional. I lost my temper again. In the final match, he scored 109 in the second innings, and then he would call me ‘saying ek reverse bhi nahi maara (didn’t play a single reverse sweep). Usko beech beech mey tablet dete rehna padta hai (Every then and now, I will scold him to keep him grounded),” says Bayash.

“In terms of cricket, his discipline is no 1. He will come in the morning at 6 and will leave in the evening at 7. Mera battery khatam ho jata tha uske chakkar mey (I used to get tired because of him).

“Every time his parents wanted him to attend a family function, he would refuse because he always wanted to train. After a few years I used to beg him ‘Go have fun, take a break”.

Play with the straight bat

Varma was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal last season for the Mumbai Indians.Coach Bayash agrees, although he hates it whenever he sees Tilak playing some unconventional shots.

“I hate it when someone plays the cross-batted shots. Once at the academy, I saw him playing Dilscoop and reverse sweep. The moment he saw me, he would stop playing the cheeky shots,” says Bayash.

“He would play all these shots that we would train him for, but he would play his own shots as well. We hadn’t worked on those shots initially. But seeing his interest, we expanded our training to include those unconventional shots, which I still don’t like”.