19-year-old Tilak Verma has won the hearts of Mumbai Indians fans with his explosive innings in the IPL match against Rajasthan Royals. Former India coach Ravi Shastri was among those who praised the left-handed batsman for his 61 off 33 balls, including three fours and five sixes.
Tilak will represent India in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup. For the past one year, Hyderabad has also excelled in domestic tournaments. The champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings battled it out for Tilak in this year’s mega star auction. In the end, Mumbai bought Tilak for Rs 1.7 crore.
In an interview with sports portal Cricketbus, Tilak spoke about the reaction of his family members to the Mumbai Indians deal. ‘I was in a video call with the coach as the IPL star auction progressed. He was very happy when the amount went up. It was only after Mumbai acquired me that I called my parents and told them the information. When they heard the good news, they began to cry. Mother’s words were cut short.
He grew up suffering a lot. His father’s meager income was used to pay for cricket training and his elder brother’s education. My cricket expenses have been borne by the sponsors for the last few years, but we still do not have a house to call our own. So what you get from this IPL, you have to give that money to the father and mother to buy a house. The earnings from the IPL will help me focus more on cricket in the years to come, ”said Tilak Verma.