NEWSYoung Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma, who has been one of the finds of the IPL season, said getting the cap from skipper Rohit Sharma gave him the confidence to perform well.
Varma has been the leading run-getter for Mumbai Indians this season, with 307 runs under his belt.
Although this has been a disastrous season for the five-time champions as they are out of contention for a play-off berth after suffering eight losses from nine games, Varma has been one of the few positives for MI.
"I always liked Rohit bhai, so getting the cap from him really pumped me up and gave me confidence," Varma told mumbaiindians.com.
Another advice which Rohit gave Varma was to enjoy the game.
"He (Rohit) keeps telling me that I shouldn't take pressure in any situation, and says, 'The way you enjoy and play, keep enjoying your game that way'.
"He would say 'you're young, this is the time to enjoy it. If you ever lose that, it doesn't come back. So the more you enjoy yourself and play, positive things will come to you. Bad days will come, good days will also come'," added Varma of his captain.
Varma attributed his success to Rohit, saying the skipper's advice has worked for him.
"He (Rohit) has told me to always enjoy myself and that is something I remember always. It will stay with me for my life in general too. And it is working too. If I've started well, it's because of that," the middle-order batter, who hails from Hyderabad, added.
Varma also said head coach and former Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene makes suggestions about his batting.
"He (Jayawardene) talks to me about my batting and makes suggestions," Varma said.
"If I back myself to play a shot and get out in a game, he tells me to not stop myself from playing that same shot in the next game. Because that is my scoring shot, so you can get out on it too, but you'll get runs from it also. He makes one mentally strong," he said.
Stressing that he has also developed strong friendship with young Dewald Brewis, Varma says it becomes easy to bat with the South African.
"Now we're so close we understand each other very well too, on the field and off it. So it's become very easy to bat with him (Brewis) in a match.
"When you are doing well on the field, automatically the bond becomes stronger off the field too," he signed off.
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