Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag said Mumbai Indians (MI) batsman Tilak Varma should focus on improving his fitness and skills to get a chance to represent the national team. Virender Sehwag advised Tilak Varma to identify his weakness and work hard to overcome it and succeed.

Tilak Varma has been a consistent performer for Mumbai Indians in the past two editions of the IPL. The lefty scored 343 runs in 11 matches in the IPL at an average of 42.88 and an impressive strike rate of 164.11. He snapped 43 runs off just 14 balls in ‘Qualifier 2’ against the Gujarat Titans (GT).

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Focus on your fitness and skills – Virender Sehwag

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag discussed how Tilak Varma can up his game to reach the next level, citing the example of Suryakumar Yadav.

“You should focus on 2 things; improve your fitness and identify skills you can work on as well as mindset. It often happens when you play cricket regularly, you change over time.” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

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“But when you’re not playing cricket, you have to focus on your fitness and skills. Like Suryakumar Yadav, he practiced a lot for his shots”, added.

The young left-handed batsman made his IPL debut for MI in the previous edition. The 20-year-old impressed with his batting and scored 397 runs in 14 matches at an average of 36.09 and strike rate of 131.02. He was the franchise’s second best running back in IPL 2022.

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Tilak Varma should focus on improving his weakness – Virender Sehwag

The former Indian opener recalled Sourav Ganguly’s advice during his ODI debut against Pakistan in 1999. Sehwag batted in the lower middle order in the match and came out for 1 run from 2 balls after being caught by Shoaib Akhtar off stumps.

“Tilak Varma should focus on improving his weakness. He reminds me of myself, when I played for India for the first time in 1999, Shoaib Akhtar fired me. Before he could put my bat down, the ball hit my pad,” further stated.

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“So, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) told me something… go back, practice against fast bowling, so you come better prepared. He used to play in the middle order, he would get spin, and by the time the fast bowlers came along he had already scored a century. Similarly, Tilak Varma needs to see where his weaknesses are.” He concluded.

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