Tilak Varma smashed his first ever IPL century against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in front of a packed crowd. It was a dream innings from the stylish left hand batter which helped Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Titans. However Tilak Varma struggled initially and during his first 20 balls of the innings he was striking it at less than run a ball. During the 14th over timeout there was an animated discussion where Hardik Pandya was saying plenty of things and making gestures to Tilak Varma. After that time out things changed for Tilak as he went on to smash a century. Watch the video here.

When asked about this particular incident in the post match presentation, Hardik Pandya said “I think the message. I realized, see, the kind of talent Tilak has, he really does not need to worry about a lot. So the only message I kept telling him was that you’re gonna just watch the ball and hit the ball irrespective of what, because I genuinely believe the kind of ball striking from his bat is something really special. It was about time that he kind of comes and delivers. And yeah, I think a couple of times I went so loud that I kind of got dizzy. So yeah, but it was much needed for the group. It was much needed for Tilak” he added

Tilak Varma was on 19 runs from 22 balls at the end of the 14th over. Mumbai Indians were struggling at 103/4. During the timeout, Hardik Pandya was seen having a hard conversation with Tilak and asked him to try to play with more intent as Mumbai were well behind the game as Tilak was striking at less than run a ball.

What followed was one of the most spectacular knocks in the history of IPL. Tilak Varma went from 19 from 22 balls to 101* of 45 balls and took Mumbai Indians from 103/4 to 199/5 at the end of the first innings. It was carnage as they smashed 96 runs in the last six overs and majority of the damage was done by Tilak Varma. It was a splendid innings and he was the player of the match as Mumbai Indians registered a comfortable win against Gujarat Titans.