IPL 2022: How a chance encounter with Suresh Raina changed 12-year-old Tilak Varma's mindset

Suresh Raina most certainly won't remember the chance encounter he had with a little known Hyderabad cricket coach Salam Bayash or the 12-year-old kid, who had accompanied him in tow during that evening at the HCA Stadium in Uppal back in 2014. Chennai Super Kings were pitted against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the very next day and little did 'Chinna Thala' know that his five-minute interaction and a photo with a then 12-year-old Namboori Thakur Tilak Varma will have such an impact on 12-year-old's impressionable mind. Eight year hence, the now 20-year-old left-hander's lucid style of strokeplay must have brought a wide grin on Raina's face while watching him reverse sweep Ravichandran Ashwin for a six.

"I had a friend of mine, who was a local manager. I took his help to procure permission to watch the practice and had little Tilak accompany," it seemed as if it happened yesterday in the manner Bayash recollected events of that day. "I distinctly remember a wide-eyed Tilak just watching Suresh Raina's batting with awe.

He stood transfixed and watched every shot played by Raina. Then we clicked pictures with him and I strongly feel that the "special meeting" with Raina was enough for Tilak to decide that he wanted to become a cricketer," the childhood coach said about his ward, who has become the find of Mumbai Indians. MI lost to Rajasthan Royals but Tilak's 61 had garnered a lot of attention, especially after head coach Mahela Jayawardena showered him with glowing praise.