“I just sat at one corner to see him” - Tilak Varma opens up on first interaction with Rohit Sharma

Team India batter Tilak Varma recalled his maiden interaction with legend and former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma. Tilak made his IPL debut with MI in the 2022 season and has been with them ever since.

The left-hander opened up on how it took three days before he could meet Rohit at the team hotel. He revealed that the former captain did not come to the hotel for the first two days. On the third day, he saw Rohit with his family near the breakfast area. As he was scared and nervous, he did not talk to the star batter.

However, he finally managed to interact with Rohit later on. Tilak Varma revealed how Rohit called him to his room and spoke to him for a long time.

"It was in 2022 during COVID. We were in Taj Hotel in Mumbai. I was waiting. Rohit did not come the first two days. I met everyone but could not see him and I was waiting. I was very excited to see him as I had never met him before. He came on the third day. He was with his family. I went to the breakfast area, took some juice and just sat at one corner to see him," he said on 'Breakfast with Champions'. "I wanted to go talk to him but I was scared. I was nervous so I did not go to him. I went to a media guy and told him. I did not know that guy was close to Rohit. So he went and told him. Then Rohit called to my room and asked me to meet him. Then I sat with him and spoke a lot," he added.

The 22-year-old also opened up on playing his first match at the Wankhede Stadium against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He added about the craze for MS Dhoni and the support for him even at the Wankhede.

"Playing at Wankhede is a different feeling. The atmosphere, the crowd, there is a lot of fun. I even won the game against CSK there. But I see that when Mahi bhai comes, people remove their blue jerseys and the yellow shirt comes on. I thought this was amazing. Once he gets out, the blue shirts come on again."

Tilak Varma has become an integral part of the Mumbai Indians' set-up over the years. He has been instrumental to their success with the bat in the middle order.

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Tilak Varma on the auction and being picked by MI

Tilak Varma also opened up on his experience during the auction before the 2022 season and after being picked by MI. He was acquired for ₹1.7 crore. The left-hander recalled playing the Ranji Trophy during the auction and how his teammates reacted after his selection.

Tilak also revealed suffering a serious injury after his debut IPL season, and how he pushed himself.

"We were playing the Ranji Trophy in Cuttack. Everyone came to my room once the auction started. Everyone started screaming when the bid started. When CSK and MI came in, when it went to 1.2 Cr, the started to hang and in ten seconds it had gone to 1.7. It then showed that MI bought me. I had a muscle breakdown after the first IPL and no one knows this. I wanted to get into the Test team and I was continuously playing domestic matches. I did not focus on recovery. I would push myself and overstrained," he said.

So far in his IPL career, Tilak Varma has played 54 matches and has scored 1499 runs at an average of 37.47 at a strike-rate of 144.41. He also has eight half-centuries to his name.

Edited by Rishab Vm