Bengaluru, July 6 A day after earning his maiden India T20I call-up for the five-match tour of West Indies, young middle-order batter Tilak Varma, who is currently representing South Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, on Thursday revealed that he wasn't thinking much about a chance to be in the national team and instead focused on his processes.
Earning praise from all quarters for his free-flowing stroke-play and making runs quickly, Varma burst into limelight by amassing 397 runs for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022, at a strike-rate of 131.02. That figure rose to 164.11, when Varma again shone bright for Mumbai in IPL 2023 while making 347 runs in 11 matches.
"I was just thinking about my process and didn't give much thought to the national call-up. I was thinking about the games which are coming and was just focusing on that (Duleep Trophy semi-final) right now. Then suddenly it (India T20I call-up) happened, and I was happy," Varma told reporters at the end of day two of Duleep Trophy semi-final match between North and South Zone.
When the news of his selection came, Varma's phone was apparently switched off. Asked about the same, the left-hander said,"I am playing Duleep Trophy, so I just want to focus on it. My childhood friend had called me around eight o’clock that I was selected (for the T20I team).
I had some thoughts around it as I was not there in the emerging (Men's Asia Cup) team. I had called up the family via video call and they were so emotional, and my coach (Salam Bayash) had the same reaction."
Though there was joy in making it to the Indian team for the first time, Varma was quick to get his mindset back towards resuming his innings after being 12 not out at the end of day one's play.
"It's a big thing to be selected into the Indian team. After talking to childhood friends, parents and coach, I was back to focusing on the game and thinking about the challenges in today's game," he said.
"While sleeping also, I was thinking the same in my mind. It's a big thing, but I still have a game to win for my South Zone team, and that's the main thing. So, that was all going on in my mindset. Today, things went well, but unfortunately didn't take the lead," he added.
The 20-year old batter came back to eventually make 46 and shared a 110-run stand with Agarwal, who made 51. But the duo fell short of clinching the lead for South Zone by only three runs.
"I felt confident after getting the call-up, and felt like a capped player. Yesterday also, I was confident, but the wicket was a bit damp and the ball was moving here and there.
The way we (him and Mayank Agarwal) were batting, we thought of taking the lead, but the game unfortunately didn't go that way. Mayank bhai's wicket was especially crucial for us, and then we lost three wickets quickly, so that didn't help too," the left-hander said.
Varma, the Hyderabad-based batter, further elaborated on the mindset-wise learnings and notes on vital mental preparations, which he took from speaking and spending time with legends of the game during his two seasons of playing IPL for Mumbai.
"I have heard a lot from Rohit (Sharma) bhai and Sachin (Tendulkar) sir, also from Virat (Kohli) bhai. They have always said when we bat well, the subconscious mind is in the right place. The main thing which has come from them is for the subconscious mind to be at the right place in whatever you do, like leaving the ball or playing close to the body," he revealed.
"They always say that whatever you do off the field or in the room is very important and always prepare your subconscious mind about how you bat tomorrow. It helps me every night, like in visualising how I can bat and how I can take on the team when the situation is not fine. That kind of mindset, I am preparing and it helps going forward. So it gets easier for me by doing this.
I always back myself and be clear in the mindset because in the MI team, (Kieron) Pollard has been the main guy and he always did the job in that situation. He told me to be calm and focus on the ball. Whatever you think in mind, it determines what shape you keep and doing in that situation. I always back myself and the results come on my side," he added.
Coming back to Duleep Trophy, Varma is playing in a red-ball game after missing last year's Ranji Trophy due to a stress-related injury. But went on to be the second highest run-getter in South Zone's first innings. He attributed it to being more inclined towards practising his game more against red-ball.
"In my childhood, I used to play a lot of red-ball games, and every coach used to test me with the red-ball. So, I always loved playing against red-ball and usually, I practice more against red-ball than white-ball," Varma said.
"White-ball has got more of a mindset while your skill is tested in red-ball. So I was confident and despite not playing Ranji Trophy last year, I was anyway confident. Hitting a century on debut for India A gave me the confidence and with that in hand, I played today, but got out unfortunately," he added.
With North Zone tasked to set a target for South Zone, Varma has now got time to reply back to a plethora of messages over his T20I selection.
"I will reply to all the congratulatory messages now as I was focused on my batting in the ongoing game and the team got announced late yesterday. I keep focusing on my game and the rest of the things are seen later on," Varma concluded.
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