IPL Auction 2022: Electrician's Son Tilak Varma Hopes To Justify "Crorepati" Tag

When an electrician father failed to brighten his son's cricketing prospects, in came a coach to take care of all the expenses, and go beyond that. And that's how that nine-year-old boy, once playing in the bylanes of Chandrayangutta in Hyderabad, and possessing an attractive batting stance, cuts and pulls shots, grew into a 19-year-old Tilak Varma, with a Rs 1.7 crore IPL deal. He was picked up by Mumbai Indians on the second day of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

It is not for nothing that Varma attributes his growth as a cricketer to his coach Salam Bayash, who provided him the necessary grooming, gave him food, and when required, a place to stay in his own house where five other family members lived.

His father Namboori Nagaraju could hardly afford to send Varma to a cricket academy and buy him the gears, but Salam "took care of his expenses".

"Mere baarein mein bhale hi na likho, but coach sir ka zaroor mention karna (It's okay not to write about me but definitely do highlight Salam sir)," Varma told PTI after being bought by the record five-time champions.

"He bought me the cricketing gears and took care of most of the expenses (at Legala Cricket Academy). So it's all because of him and my family's support I'm here," he added.

Living in a rented house, Varma's four-member family was hit hard financially during the COVID-19 pandemic as his father stopped getting new contracts during the lockdowns, but his cricket did not suffer, thanks to his coach's "unrelenting support".

"There was a lot of suffering and we had to cut down our expenses during the pandemic. But my coach ensured that I continued playing cricket. Hopefully things will turn better now." Varma, who had a base price of Rs 20 lakh, generated huge interest