Tilak Varma

Namboori Thakur Tilak Varma (Telugu: [t̪ilak vaɾmaː]; born 8 November 2002) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a left-handed batsman and part-time off spin bowler. He made his international debut for India on 3 August 2023 in a T20I match against the West Indies.^[1] He plays for Hyderabad in domestic cricket and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).^[2][3] He was a part of the Indian squad which won the 2023 Asia Cup.

Tilak Varma

Personal information
Full name	Namboori Thakur Tilak Varma
Born	(2002-11-08) 8 November 2002 (age 22) Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm Off-break
Role	Batting All-rounder
International information
National side	India (2023–present)
ODI debut (cap 252)	15 September 2023 v Bangladesh
Last ODI	21 December 2023 v South Africa
ODI shirt no.	72
T20I debut (cap 104)	3 August 2023 v West Indies
Last T20I	15 November 2024 v South Africa
T20I shirt no.	72
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2018–present	Hyderabad
2022–present	Mumbai Indians (squad no. 9)
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA Matches 4 20 18 29 Runs scored 68 616 1,204 1,304 Batting average 22.67 51.33 50.16 52.16 100s/50s 0/1 2/2 5/4 5/6 Top score 52 120* 121 156* Balls bowled 42 30 193 272 Wickets 0 2 8 8 Bowling average – 13.00 12.87 26.75 5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0 10 wickets in match – 0 0 0 Best bowling – 1/5 3/13 4/23 Catches/stumpings 1/– 14/– 8/– 13/–
Source: , 20 November 2024

Early life

Tilak Varma was born on 8 November 2002 into a Telugu family in Hyderabad. His father Namboori Nagaraju worked as an electrician, and his mother Gayatri Devi is a housewife. He has an elder brother, Tarun Varma.^[4]

Tilak Varma developed an early interest in cricket and was spotted playing tennis ball cricket by coach Salim Bayash at the age of 11. Bayash took him under his wing and trained him at the Legala Cricket Academy, Lingampally. Bayash would ferry Varma to his academy and back home on his scooter, a journey of more than 40 kilometres (25 mi) each way, until Varma's family relocated closer to the academy.^[5][6][7][8]

Varma obtained his early education at Crescent Model English School and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School, Hyderabad.^[9] He completed his secondary education in Lepakshi Junior College, Hyderabad,^[10] and, at present, is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Andhra University.^{[citation needed]}

Domestic career

He made his first-class debut for Hyderabad in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy on 30 December 2018.^[11] In the tournament, he scored 215 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 147.26. He made his Twenty20 debut for Hyderabad in the 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on 28 February 2019.^[12]

He made his List A debut on 28 September 2019, for Hyderabad in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy.^[13] During the tournament, he scored 180 runs in five games and also took four wickets.

In December 2019, he was named in India's squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[14] He played six games in the competition and managed to score only 86 runs.

In the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 180 runs in five games and took four wickets.

Indian Premier League

In February 2022, he was bought by the Mumbai Indians in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.^[15][16] The base price was Rs. 20 lakh and he was bought by Mumbai Indians at Rs. 1.7 crore. In the second match of the league, he scored a 33-ball-61 against Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.^[17]

In April 2023, he scored an 84 off 46 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match of 2023 Indian Premier League.^[18] In the playoff match against Gujarat Titans, he scored 43 runs off just 14 balls.^[19]

International career

In July 2023, he got his maiden call-up for Indian cricket team for the T20I series on the tour of West Indies.^[20] He made his T20I debut on 3 August 2023 in the first match of the series.^[21] He top-scored for India with 39 off just 22 deliveries and he managed to take 2 catches in the same match.

On 6 August 2023, he made his first fifty in the second T20 match played against the West Indies, becoming the second youngest Indian to score a fifty in men's T20I after Rohit Sharma.^[22] He ended the series as the highest run scorer.

He has also been named in the Indian squads for the three-match T20I tour of Ireland^[23] and the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.^[24]

He made his ODI debut on 15 September 2023 against Bangladesh in 2023 Asia Cup.^[25]

On 13 November 2024, Varma hit his maiden T20I century, striking 107 not out off of 56 balls against South Africa to become the youngest player to do so against a Top 10 nation, and the second-youngest to achieve this feat overall.^[26] On 15 November 2024, he smashed an unbeaten 120 runs off just 47 balls against South Africa in the same T20I series, becoming the second Indian cricketer to hit two consecutive T20I centuries, and the first ever cricketer to remain unbeaten on both.

References

1. "West Indies vs India: Mumbai Indians rising star Tilak Varma handed international debut in 1st T20I". India Today. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
2. "Tilak Varma". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
3. "The uncapped ones: Shahrukh Khan, Umran Malik and more". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
4. "I have given all my money to dad and told him to keep me away from it: Tilak Varma". The Week. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
5. "Coach revels in Tilak's success". The Times of India. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
6. "The making of Tilak Varma: From tennis-ball cricket to playing for Mumbai Indians & earning India call-up". The Times of India. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
7. Bose, Shuvaditya (8 July 2023). "Tilak Varma | Tracing the Journey Through a Tearful Father and a Joyful Coach". TheQuint. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
8. "Tilak Varma, The Boy From Balapur: Tracing The Early Steps Of A Future Superstar". Wisden. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
9. "Parents, coach of cricketer Tilak Varma felicitated". The Hans India. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
10. "Tilak wants to make it count in England". The Times of India. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
11. "Elite, Group B, Ranji Trophy at Vizianagaram, Dec 30 2018 - Jan 2 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
12. "Group E, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Delhi, Feb 28 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
13. "Elite, Group A, Vijay Hazare Trophy at Alur (2), Sep 28 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
14. "Four-time champion India announce U19 Cricket World Cup squad". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
15. The Hindu (13 February 2022). "Mumbai Indians signs Tilak Varma". Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
16. "IPL 2022 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
17. "IPL 2022: MI's Tilak Varma announces himself on the big stage". Sportstar. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
18. "RCB vs MI: Tilak Varma's unbeaten 84 takes Mumbai Indians to 171/7 against Royal Challengers Bangalore". The Times of India. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
19. ""When I Played For India In 1999...": Virender Sehwag's Advice To Mumbai Indians' Star Tilak Varma | Cricket News". NDTV. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
20. "Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma earn maiden call up to India T20I squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
21. "West Indies vs India: Mumbai Indians rising star Tilak Varma handed international debut in 1st T20I". India Today. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
22. "IND vs WI, India in West Indies 2023, 2nd T20I at Providence, August 06, 2023 - Full Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
23. "Jasprit Bumrah returns to lead India for T20Is in Ireland". ESPNcricinfo. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
24. "Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harmanpreet Kaur to lead as BCCI announces India men's and women's squads for 19th Asian Games". The Indian Express. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
25. "IND v BAN, Asia Cup 2023: Tilak Varma makes ODI debut, receives maiden cap from Rohit Sharma". India Today. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
26. "Tilak — taking to the slam-bang format like a duck to water". The Hindu. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.

External links

• Tilak Varma at ESPNcricinfo