CHENNAI: AS has been the custom ever since he started playing age-group cricket (U-14), Tilak Varma called his childhood coach Salam Bayash back home in Hyderabad from Dublin on August 20. Salam did not take it. The southpaw, even before calling, knew his coach wouldn't attend it. He had got out playing a rash shot; trying to pull Barry McCarthy's short ball only to top edge it to the deep square leg fielder George Dockrell.
It meant Tilak had to depart for 1 leaving India two down for 34 in 4.1 overs. The dismissal hurt more as the 20-year-old Hyderabad batter got out for a naught in the previous match. A remorseful Tilak texted his coach saying, "Thoda jaldi kar diya maine, wicket par stay karna tha, sorry next match accha karuga sir (I rushed into the shot, I should have stayed at the crease for some time. Sorry sir, I will do better in the next match)." The message melted the heart of the coach.
"No matter where he is, he will always call me twice a day. Once before the practice session and once after it. On match days, he will call me before the match and after it. He also knows that I will not attend the calls if he doesn't perform. The same happened that day when he got out playing a pull against Ireland in the second match," the coach told this daily.
In the end, the twin failures against Ireland didn't matter as Tilak was included in the Asia Cup squad announced by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) last week. Ajit Agarkar, chairman of selectors, brought him on board on the basis of talent.
"The team returned to India via Abu Dhabi. Tilak, on reaching Hyderabad, went home and arrived at the academy after some rest. During our interaction, I told him, 'Look Tilak, the script remains the same. You did well for India in the U-19 Asia Cup and got a place in the U-19 World Cup squad. Here also, you got a chance in the senior Asia Cup squad. Do well if you get a chance and don't think much about the World Cup. If you deserve, you will get a call-up'," said Salam, who has been honing Tilak's skills at the Legala Sports Academy in Lingampally, Hyderabad for almost nine years.
The association started when Tilak was 10-11 years old. The day being a holiday, Salam reached the Abbas Stadium in Barkas to meet his fellow coaches. There he saw Tilak taking much older boys to the cleaners while playing with a tennis ball. "I asked him where he stays and then I went to meet his father, an electrician with a PSU. They are a middle-class family. The father expressed his inability to drop and pick Tilak to my academy which is 40km away. So I took the responsibility to pick him up in the morning at around 5 AM. He was a kid then so he used to sleep while pillion riding with me. But after three-four months, I convinced his father to shift near to my academy and he agreed. This made it possible for Tilak to focus only on his cricket and not spend too much time and energy on travel."
Two seasons with Mumbai Indians at the IPL (2022 and 2023) polished Tilak further as he became an accomplished batter in the company of world-class support staff including the batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. "I asked him to pick the brains of these legends including Sachin sir. He did exactly the same. Since his junior days, he never shied away from working hard. He will follow the script and do whatever he has been asked to do. That habit has been helping him a lot," opined the coach. "The MI skipper always encouraged him to play his natural game and not worry a lot. That helped him amass 397 and 343 runs from 14 and 11 matches in the 2022 and 2023 seasons respectively."
Salam also thanked the Hyderabad Cricket Association for keeping faith in the young Tilak and allowing him to play in the senior squad during the reputed tournaments like Moin-ud-Dowla and Buchi Babu cricket tournaments.
The coach is hopeful that his ward can get a chance at the Asia Cup if the team goes for left and right combination in the middle order. "I am not thinking too much about it but I must say one thing; if he gets a chance, he is not the guy who will let it go. He will grab it with both hands. The same script may unfold which happened four years ago and who knows he could be seen representing the country in the ODI World Cup," Salam signed off.