How MI’s Tilak Varma overcame injury spell

Tilak Varma during his 30 v KKR at the Wankhede on Sunday. Pic/Ashish Raje

It's sort of a homecoming for Hyderabad's promising batter Tilak Varma when Mumbai Indians clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad at Uppal on Tuesday night. A few months ago, this 20-year-old was crestfallen as he was forced to stop playing cricket because of Creatine Phosphokinase (injury or stress to the muscle tissue). As a result, his blossoming career came to a halt - during the India ‘A' tour of Bangladesh - in December last year. He even had to skip the entire Ranji Trophy season and Hyderabad missed this talented batter. It resulted in their worst-ever finish in the Ranji Trophy, failing to win a single match, leading to relegation to the Plate division. Varma had been the leading run-getter for Hyderabad in the last two seasons.

He played the Mushtaq Ali T20 and Vijay Hazare one-day tournament before the injury in Bangladesh upset his season's plans. Coach Salam Bayash, who has been nurturing him from a young age, said the injury shattered Varma. "He was disturbed that he could not play cricket for a long time. He was in good form and had hoped to do well in the Ranji Trophy. Instead, he had to go for a long rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore before returning to Hyderabad in April,'' said Bayash, who runs his cricket camp [Legala Cricket Academy] in Lingampally in Hyderabad.

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For the first few months, Bayash had to convince Varma that all was not lost and that there is a lot of cricket left in him. "We had to start from scratch. He started batting for a few hours in March before he went into a full session of four to five hours. We told him to be patient and that all sportspersons suffer some setback or the other. Prior to the start of IPL, he played a tournament in Navi Mumbai to get some match practice. He has fought back brilliantly. I'm happy with the way he is playing and stroking the ball. I told him to be focused. He is a good student of the game,'' added Bayash.

Varma could not play in Hyderabad for MI last year because of COVID-19 restrictions. So, this is the first time he will have an opportunity to play for MI in his hometown. Bayash along with Varma's parents (Namboori Nagaraju and Gayatri Devi) and family members will be at Uppal to cheer for the talented cricketer.