Tilak Varma Told Me He Was Inspired By Suresh Raina During IPL 2014 - Coach Salam Bayash

Hyderabad cricket coach Salam Bayash recalled the instance when his ward Tilak Varma drew inspiration from former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Suresh Raina.

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During IPL 2014, CSK was scheduled to play a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the HCA Stadium in Uppal. After CSK’s net session, Raina had a five-minute interaction with a 12-year-old Tilak Varma which really impacted the youngster.

Tilak Varma told me that he was inspired by Suresh Raina: Salam Bayash

Bayash, who is Tilak’s coach, said his ward was inspired by Raina’s batting performance and decided to follow in the footsteps of the iconic player.

“In 2014, he got an opportunity to serve as a ballboy in an IPL match. During the match he kept watching Suresh Raina’s batting,” Bayash said in a video posted on MITV.

“On returning home, he told me that he was inspired by Suresh Raina and wanted to practice hard, to become like him. Later that night, I spoke to Tilak’s parents and they told me that he wasn’t able to sleep that night and instead, kept practicing the basics,” the coach further said. 

Since childhood I have been watching Suresh Raina: Tilak Varma

In the same video, the Hyderabad prodgious player talked about his childhood idols.

“Since childhood I have been watching Suresh Raina bhai and my dream was to play with Rohit Sharma. I wanted to interact with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar sir,” Varma mentioned. 

Mumbai Indians are having one of their worst seasons in the IPL as they are yet to find a win in this edition. The five-time IPL champions attained an unwanted record of losing the first eight matches of an IPL season.

The silver lining for the Rohit Sharma-led side was to discover the talent of Tilak this year. MI is customary in grooming young players and giving them long rope.

Tilak is the highest run-scorer for the franchise this season with 272 runs in eight games at 45.33 and a strike rate of 140.21.

Also Read: ‘Tilak Was Just Watching Suresh Raina’s Batting With Awe’: When Tilak Varma Met Suresh Raina In 2014 – Salam Bayash