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Tilak Varma has played three IPL matches for Mumbai Indians against Royal Challengers Bengaluru since making his debut in 2022 and has scored 100 runs.
Dinesh Karthik makes special request to Tilak Varma. (Picture Credit: AP, Screengrab)
Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru as batting coach and mentor last year after his retirement from Indian cricket, has made a special request to star Indian batter Tilak Varma, who is in red-hot form these days. In his last six T20Is for India, Tilak has scored two centuries and one half-century. The 22-year-old left-handed batter from Hyderabad is India’s highest-ranked player in ICC T20I batter’s rankings, and he was also retained by five-time champions Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
While speaking on Cricbuzz’s HeyCB with DK show, Karthik praised Tilak’s 72-run knock from 55 balls against England in the second T20I played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on January 25 and said that he has a great understanding of the situation. While hoping for Tilak to grow from strength to strength going forward, Karthik requested him to be nice against RCB during the upcoming season of the world’s richest franchise cricket league.
“Brilliant innings (in 2nd T20I). Great understanding of what the situation required. Hats off to him. Really like him as a player. I just wish he grows from strength to strength. Be nice against RCB, Tilak. He always does well against us,” Karthik said.
Since making his IPL debut for MI in IPL 2022, Tilak has played three matches against RCB and has scored 100 runs. In the IPL 2023 match between MI and RCB at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 2, Tilak, after coming out to bat at No. 5, scored 84 runs from just 46 balls with the help of nine fours and four sixes.
Karthik was also full of praise for Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy in the ongoing series against England and observed that the Mumbaikar is very comfortable with head coach Gautam Gambhir.
“Very good. So far, he’s got a lot of tactical things right. I thought there’d be a problem if they don’t play two fast bowlers. But they’ve done really well. Hardik has come in and bowled nicely, and the spinners have dominated through the middle. And I do think he’s someone who is very, very comfortable with Gambhir. A lot of times you see Gambhir giving ideas from the outside, and he’s followed it through. They have a nice equation. I like that.”
