Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma overcame a tough start to slam his maiden IPL century against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday (April 20).
After MI were reduced to 44/3, Tilak anchored the innings and was batting on 19 off 22 balls at one stage. However, the southpaw went berserk in the last five overs, hitting boundaries at will to put his team in a commanding position.
Tilak hammered 82 runs in his next 23 balls to finish with 101 not out, including 8 fours and 7 sixes, which propelled MI to a formidable 199/5 in 20 overs.
The five-time champions then bowled out GT for just 100 in 15.5 overs to win the match by 99 runs, thereby breaking a four-match losing streak.
On the eve of MI’s next match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium, Tilak addressed a press conference, where he credited Rohit Sharma's advice to focus on the first 15-20 balls for his IPL century.
"I was talking especially with Rohit bhai. He told me to 'play 15-20 balls' and that 'you know what you are capable of'," Tilak told reporters on Wednesday (April 22).
"(Rohit said) 'if you play 15 balls, everyone knows what you will do after that. Just do not look at the situation or anything else, play 15 balls and we will see whatever the result would be'."
"… That gave me confidence and I had it in my mind to play the 15 balls and to see the rest after that. Once I had played those 15 balls, you get that instinct automatically, that I will hit now," he added.
Despite low scores of 20, 0, 14, 1, 8, Tilak Varma maintained a calm approach, refusing to take pressure.
"(In a couple of matches) I did not get much time on the wicket and I had to go from the start. Sometimes, it comes my way and sometimes I get out, so I did not take much (pressure) on me that I was not in a good form," he said.
Tilak also backed teammate Suryakumar Yadav to break out of his slump, stating the latter is playing well and "not too far away" from a big score.
"I would not say that Surya bhai is out of form; he is batting well. If you see the shots he is playing in the match, they are coming from the middle of the bat and it doesn't look like he is out of touch," Tilak said.
"It is just a matter of one innings which he is waiting for. The same thing had happened in the first match of the T20 World Cup. If the starting match had not gone well for the (Indian) team, the atmosphere would have been different and he proved it there," he remarked.
While Tilak prefers batting at No. 3, he is comfortable moving up and down the order based on the team's requirements.
"I have been hearing the same question (on batting order) for the last three years. I love to bat at No.3 but I am always up (to bat) where the team needs me to whenever it is Nos. 4, 5, 6 or 7," he replied when asked about the change of slots.
Tilak does not follow a fixed training regimen when runs are not flowing. Instead, he assesses the specific needs of the moment, sometimes practicing more and other times choosing to stay off the game.
"To be honest, I always think about what is the need (of the team) at that moment," he said.
"Sometimes, I feel like I have to practice more and sometimes, I feel like I have to stay off the game. Before going to sleep, I think about how I am feeling mentally. It's not always possible to practice more in order to score runs -- there is nothing like that."
"In the World Cup, I did not score many runs at the start and I felt I needed to practice and I practiced a lot. But now (in IPL), when I did not score in 2-3 matches, I felt like staying off the game."
During tough patches, he relies on his childhood coach and communicates with Rohit regarding his batting.
"I did not train much but I spoke with my childhood coach and if there is anything to share about batting, I do it with Rohit bhai," Tilak concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
