Inside Tilak Varma’s preparation ahead of the Asia Cup and his meticulous analysis of bowlers and intense training | Cricket News

What kept him in the hunt was constant feedback he had received from his Hyderabad -based coach, Salam Bayash. Although Tilak had chipped in with cameos earlier in the tournament, the uncompromising teacher was not satisfied with his pupil before Tilak delivered a Man of the Match performance in the final. The nudge, it seems, had been reminding him that he was a bonafide champion player, not some sideshow.

“Even before the game yesterday, we were chatting about it. I told him you are a champion player and need to deliver a champion performance. I hope you will take the team across the line,” Bayash told The Indian Express.

Tilak, after delivering his wish, had a video call with Bayash. “He told me I should have been present there (in Dubai),” said the coach in a delighted tone.

The knock he played in the final was planned even before the tournament started. Bayash had made sure Tilak was ready for the sluggish nature of the Dubai wickets. “We kept telling Tilak, you could get in after the first wicket falls or be batting at number seven, but you have to be prepared to face all kinds of situations. We altered the way we practised a little. We discussed what needs to be done when you are batting in the latter part of the innings. We saw how the wickets changed in the first innings and second innings, and considered the heat and decided to practice on slow wickets.”

Bayash said he had drilled into Tilak’s head how important it was not to throw his wicket away, once he got in. (AP Photo)

The Asia Cup final was not an isolated inning where Tilak had adapted his game from a stylish free-stroking left-hander to an accumulator, who stayed till the end and finished the game. There had been a similar run-chase against England earlier this year in Chennai, when he gave glimpses of this Virat Kohli-ish programming he had in him, scoring a 55-ball 72 to manufacture an unlikely two-wicket win, chasing 166.

But he also had Suresh Raina’s hyper-aggressive coding embedded in him. “You remember the one innings where he got 100 (120 off 47 balls), and here he just needed to score 50 (69 off 53 balls). He is the kind of player who changes gears according to the situation,” said Bayash.

Bayash said he had drilled into Tilak’s head how important it was not to throw his wicket away, once he got in. “It is not easy for the new batters to come in and start, so if he was in the middle, he had to go ahead with the next batter,” which is what Tilak did in the final.

First, he stitched a 57-run partnership with Sanju Samson to stabilise the chase and then a 60-run partnership with Shivam Dube that took the game closer.

But after Dube’s dismissal, India still needed 10 runs of the final over, and on the second ball of Haris Rauf’s last over, he unleashed his favourite pick-up shot onto the leg-side from outside the off-stump into the mid-wicket boundary for a six, which decided the fate of the game. Even the slightest bit of miscalculation or distraction in his mind could have easily messed up the shot under pressure, but it was the muscle memory of playing pace which took over, and the work done over the years paid off under pressure.

“I used to scold him a lot,” Bayash recalls. In training, Tilak was exposed to fiery 130-140 kph deliveries from a very young age. “These days, many have started using Sidearms (the equipment used for slinging balls at batsmen), but we started making him face deliveries against Sidearms in 2014 itself.”

Tilak would acknowledge the foresight.

“Everyone knows my name now, everyone knows who Tilak Varma is. But when nobody knew me, my coaches were with me, backed me big time, and have helped me build and shape my career since I was a child,” he recalled. “Ups and downs are a part of the game. I started at Legala Cricket Academy, and whenever I practice here, I gain confidence to do well. I know if I’m on this soil, I’ll get confidence,” Tilak said, addressing the media on Tuesday.

Tilak, although he looked quite efficient with the power game, has not always been the quintessential power hitter. Former Hyderabad cricketer Akshath Reddy recalled just how different a young Tilak was, compared to what he has become now, but also mentioned that he has always been quite sharp in reading situations from a very young age. “I see a lot of batters who box themselves in a role, but he was not like that. He always did what the team needed,” Reddy recalls. ‘Back in the day, he was more of a four-day player, and now he is a very good T20 player. IPL has made a lot of changes in his game. When he was at U-16 and U-19, he used to get tons but was consuming a lot of balls too at the time.”

Akshath was surprised at the rapid growth of Tilak and how quickly he worked on his power hitting and the addition of shots to his armoury to excel in the T20 game.

Eye from the MI dressing room

In the tale of Tilak, the happy intrusion of the Mumbai Indians cannot be ignored. He was picked for 1.7 crores by Mumbai for the 2022 IPL. Satyanarayana Raju, who made his IPL debut for Mumbai, said he was quite confident that Tilak was going to take India over the line despite being reduced to 20/3. “I have seen him from close quarters. I knew he would take the game deep and take the side over the line. Taking games deep and finishing them off are the roles he’s suited for.”

Raju also revealed Tilak is quite meticulous with his planning ahead of the game. “A couple of days from the game, he starts watching the videos of the bowlers from the opposition and what areas different bowlers hit and where they usually bowl loose balls, he takes notes of everything. He is also quite intense in his training, and he tries to always bring something to the table, tries to give his all in the entire training session and even in the gym, he does everything. He does not even skip doing squats…”