Former India opener Virender Sehwag was impressed by the performance of Mumbai Indians star Tilak Varma and has some sound advice for the young left-hander from Hyderabad.
Varma, a member of India’s U19 team in Youth World Cup 2020, made his IPL debut in 2020 for MI and impressed one and all as he scored 397 runs across 14 matches at an average of 36.09 and a strike rate of 131.02.
In IPL 2023, Varma improved his performance by scoring 343 runs across 11 matches at an average of 42.88 and an impressive strike rate of 164.11.
The batter gave a scare to Gujarat Titans during Mumbai Indians' mammoth chase of 234 runs in Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The southpaw scored 43 runs off 13 balls before Rashid Khan dismissed him to keep GT in the driving seat.
Sehwag gave some advice on how Tilak Varma can better himself and grow as a cricketer, learning from his own India debut in 1999.
"He should focus on 2 things; improve his fitness, and identify the skills that he can work on, as well as the mindset. It often happens when you play regular cricket, you change yourself with time. But when you're not playing cricket, you have to focus on your fitness and your skills. Like Suryakumar Yadav, he practiced a lot for his shots," Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
"Tilak Varma should focus on improving his weakness. It reminds me of myself, when I played for India for the first time in 1999, I was dismissed by Shoaib Akhtar. Before I could bring my bat down, the ball hit my pad. So, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) told me one thing... go back, and practice against fast bowling, so you come better prepared. I used to play in middle-order, I got spin, and by the time fast bowlers came, I had already scored a century. Likewise, Tilak Varma needs to look at where are his weaknesses," Sehwag further said.
