IPL 2026: Rohit Bhai Asked Me To Play First 15 Balls Without Any Thought in Mind, Says Tilak

Mumbai: Tilak Varma revealed on Wednesday that advice from Rohit Sharma - to play the first 15-20 balls without overthinking the match situation - helped him return to form with an IPL hundred.

Tilak struck 101 not out to set up a massive 99-run victory as Mumbai Indians snapped their four-match losing streak with a win over Gujarat Titans in their previous outing.

Tilak's unbeaten ton off 45 balls, studded with eight fours and seven sixes, came on the back of a slow start, with the left-handed batter reaching 19 not out off 22 balls at one stage.

"I was talking especially with Rohit bhai. He told me to 'play 15-20 balls' and that 'you know what you are capable of'," Tilak told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium on the eve of MI's clash against Chennai Super Kings.

"(Rohit said) 'if you play 15 balls, everyone knows what you will do after that. Just do not look at the situation or anything else, play 15 balls and we will see whatever the result would be'."

"… That gave me confidence and I had it in my mind to play the 15 balls and to see the rest after that. Once I had played those 15 balls, you get that instinct automatically, that I will hit now," Tilak added.

Tilak said he did not take any pressure on himself after a poor start to the IPL saw the left-handed batter making 20, 0, 14, 1 and 8.

"(In a couple of matches) I did not get much time on the wicket and I had to go from the start. Sometimes, it comes my way and sometimes I get out, so I did not take much (pressure) on me that I was not in a good form," he said.

Tilak said Suryakumar Yadav, who has only one fifty to show for in this IPL, is not too far away from a big innings.

"I would not say that Surya bhai is out of form; he is batting well. If you see the shots he is playing in the match, they are coming from the middle of the bat and it doesn't look like he is out of touch," Tilak said.

"It is just a matter of one innings which he is waiting for."

"The same thing had happened in the first match of the T20 World Cup. If the starting match had not gone well for the (Indian) team, the atmosphere would have been different and he proved it there," Tilak said.

Tilak has floated up and down in the batting order not just for MI but also for India, even though No.3 remains his preferred slot.

"I have been hearing the same question (on batting order) for the last three years. I love to bat at No.3 but I am always up (to bat) where the team needs me to whenever it is Nos. 4, 5, 6 or 7," he replied when asked about the change of slots.

The 23-year-old Tilak said he doesn't stick to any one specific approach in training when runs are not flowing.

"To be honest, I always think about what is the need (of the team) at that moment," he said.

"Sometimes, I feel like I have to practice more and sometimes, I feel like I have to stay off the game. Before going to sleep, I think about how I am feeling mentally. It's not always possible to practice more in order to score runs -- there is nothing like that."

"In the World Cup, I did not score many runs at the start and I felt I needed to practice and I practiced a lot. But now (in IPL), when I did not score in 2-3 matches, I felt like staying off the game."

"I did not train much but I spoke with my childhood coach and if there is anything to share about batting, I do it with Rohit bhai," Tilak added.