“I just wanted to come out alive” - Tilak Varma shares shocking tale from 2022 Bangladesh tour

Star India batter Tilak Varma revealed a shocking incident from his Bangladesh tour in 2022. It was during an India A game that he had to forcibly walk out retired hurt while batting as he was unable to continue.

Tilak had a muscle breakdown after IPL 2022. However, he continued to play domestic matches and did not focus on recovery. As he ended up overstraining himself, the situation worsened. During the India A game, he had to leave the field and was taken to the hospital right away.

As he was with the Mumbai Indians (MI), he revealed how Akash Ambani sought help from the BCCI. Tilak Varma stated that his situation could have gotten worse had he been even slightly late to get to the hospital.

"I was playing an India A game in Bangladesh. After a point my eyes became watery, I was not even able to lift the bat and all my nerves were hard. I retired hurt and came out. Akash Ambani called me right away. He spoke to the BCCI and they helped me a lot. At the hospital they told me it could have gotten worse if I had come even a few hours late. It was that bad. Even the needle was not going in. I just wanted to come out alive," he said on 'Breakfast with Champions'.

Fortunately, the batter recovered completely. He put up a solid performance for India in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025. Tilak scored 213 runs from six innings at an average of 71. He made an unbeaten 69 under pressure in the final that helped India clinch the trophy.

---

Tilak Varma on support from childhood coach and toughness

Tilak Varma also opened up on the support he received from his childhood coach. He recalled how his coach had told him that he would become a big player even when he was not playing for his state.

The left-hander displayed his ability to remain calm and composed under pressure during the Asia Cup 2025 final. He revealed that the toughness came from the struggles during his early days.

"My coach told me that he knew I would make it big and become the number one player. He would tell me this even when I had not started playing for Hyderabad yet. Many people also went against me and told things to my coach. But he never listened to anyone and worked a lot on me. There were times when I even fell at people's feet asking for just one opportunity to play. That made me a hard person. People say I do well under pressure. But I have seen such things that make me hard and all this feels like nothing," he said.

As his coach had predicted, Tilak Varma became a star in the IPL and also for the Indian team. He has played 54 games for MI and has scored 1499 runs with eight half-centuries.

The 22-year-old made his international debut in a T20I against the West Indies in 2023. His ODI debut came the same year against Bangladesh. Tilak has featured in four ODIs and 32 T20Is so far.