Almost every player that gets to represent the India cricket team has an struggle story. Tilak Varma is no different. Born to an electrician father, his family often struggled to make ends meet. Apart from his regular job, Nagaraju Varma also did odd jobs to ensure his sons had a bright future ahead of them. Something that every parent wants.
“I used to work till 12 at night and wake up at 3:30-4 in the morning. Sometimes it would be up at 1 am and on a few occasions, there is no sleep at all. Because once you have decided to do it there is no other way. Sometimes you think about those memories; I wonder how we even did it,” Nagaraju told Indian Express.
Tilak Varma’s life-changing moment
From those to now, it’s like a dream come true. Tilak Varma is now a permanent member of Team India’s T20I team and one of the best up and coming starts in the world. 2024 was great but the real big moment for his family was in 2021 when he was picked up for Rs 1.70 crore by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL auction.
For a family that struggled financially, to see their son get such a big sum was life-changing. “We were all sitting in front of the TV that day. First it was SRH. then Chennai and Mumbai came and bought him. The moment it crossed 1 crore we were over the moon,” Nagaraju added.
He’s been with MI since and was one of the five retained players ahead of the IPL 2025 auction along with Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma. That’s how highly the 5-time champions rate him and of course, now he gets Rs 8 crore. Something that his father certainly appreciates.
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