New Delhi [India], October 23 : Indian batter Tilak Varma revealed his unseen, unheard health battle following his debut Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that he had to face hospitalisation because of it, and he used to pray to god to keep him alive and have him play again.
Tilak was speaking on the "Breakfast with Champions with presenter Gaurav Kapur. In his debut IPL season, Tilak made 397 runs in 14 matches at an average of 36+ and a strike rate of 131+, with two fifties, and was the find of the season for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in a disappointing season.
After the season in November-December, he went on to feature in India A's tour to Bangladesh with hopes of sealing a spot in India's Test team, but had to retire hurt for 33* in 100 during the first game as he suffered from Rhabdomyolysis, due to which, one of his muscles broke down, leaving him need of hospitalisation after battling its severe symptoms on the field.
Tilak went on to reveal that even the slightest delay in hospitalisation could have been catastrophic for him. But he was glad to have come out of it, play the next season's IPL opener against Royal Challengers (RCB) and register his best score in the competition, 84*.
"After the first IPL, I had some health issues. I wanted to be fit. These things have not come out. I was diagnosed with something called Rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle breakdowns happen. I had that desire in me that I wanted to be in the Test team, was playing domestic cricket, 'A' series, and a camp was going on. Even on rest days, I was in the gym. I wanted to be the fittest player and an excellent fielder, so I was not focusing much on recovery. I was taking an ice bath, but I was not giving my body enough recovery time," he said.
"I was pushing myself even on rest days. So, the muscle got overstrained and it broke down. The nerves got quite hard. Mumbai Indians (support staff) was there with me and I was playing the A series in Bangladesh. I pushed myself for 100 balls but the fingers were not at all moving, my eyes had started to become watery. Everything became so hard like a stone. I had to retire hurt, gloves had to be cut off because fingers weren't moving. Akash bhai was there, he spoke to the BCCI, who also helped a lot. Thanks a lot to Jay Shah sir (then BCCI secretary) and COE (BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru). I went to the hospital and they told me that it could have been castastrophic if I was delayed more. Even the IV needle was not going in my hand. I was praying to god to keep me alive and have me playing again.
Then I played against RCB (next season), after this all, I enjoyed it, made my highest ever IPL score," he added.
Since the 2022 season, Tilak has been the spine of MI's middle-order, having made 1,499 runs in 51 innings at an average of 37.47, with a strike rate of 144.41 and eight fifties.
Recently, Tilak had a fine Asia Cup campaign for India, emerging as the team's second-highest and overall fourth-highest run-getter with 213 runs in six innings at an average of 71.00 and a strike rate of over 131, with a match-winning 69* against arch-rivals Pakistan in the final being his most notable knock.
He will be seen in action during the T20I leg of India's tour of Australia from October 29 onwards.