Mumbai Indians' Tilak Varma, son of an electrician, wants to build a house for his parents with the money he fetched in IPL mega auction.
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Tilak Varma was not confident of being picked up for a big sum by an IPL franchise in the mega auction after featuring in the 2022 U19 World Cup where India lost to Bangladesh in the final. The young-lefter had set his base price of INR 20 lakh and ended up fetching a deal of INR 1.70 crore from five-time champions Mumbai Indians. It was a dream come true for the 19-year-old who made his way to the IPL through hard work and perseverance.
However, the journey for Tilak Varma, has not been easy as he belongs from a humble background where his father worked as an electrician and his family could hardly afford his cricketing expenses. But the IPL money will allow him to play freely and build a house for his parents.
“The day the IPL auction was going on, I was on a video call with my coach. My coach started tearing up when the bids kept going higher. After I was picked, I called up my parents. They too started crying over the call. My mother was struggling to get words out.
“Growing up, we’ve had a lot of financial difficulties. My father with his meagre salary had to look after my cricket expenses as well as my elder brother’s studies. In the last few years, with some sponsorship and match fees, I could just about take care of my cricketing expenses.
“We don’t own a house as yet. So with whatever I have earned in this IPL, my only aim is to get a house for my parents. This IPL money gives me the luxury to play freely for the rest of my career.”
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His coach Salam Bayash not only groomed him as a player but also helped him financially and now the dividends have paid off.
“It’s fine if you do not write about me but Salam sir should definitely get a mention. He bought me cricket gear and took care of my expenses. It’s all because of him and my family’s support that I reached this stage,” he told PTI.
Varma has already given a good account of himself during the Mumbai Indians debut as he hit some fine boundaries to score 22 runs off 15 deliveries against Delhi Capitals and quick-fire cameo of 61 runs against Rajasthan Royals.
He records 381 runs in 15 T20s at a healthy strike-rate of 143.77, while mostly batting at the top-order, and will be expected to make the most of his debut IPL season.
