Tilak Varma’s first IPL century did more than end Mumbai Indians’ losing streak. It also triggered a vivid reaction from former India spinner R Ashwin, who compared Hardik Pandya’s mid-pitch pep talk to a WWE-style act and called Tilak’s knock one of the best IPL hundreds he has seen.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after the Mumbai Indians’ win over the Gujarat Titans, Ashwin said Hardik’s words and energy while batting alongside Tilak seemed to change the mood of the innings. Mumbai were in need of a statement after a difficult run, and Tilak’s unbeaten 101 off 45 balls delivered exactly that in Ahmedabad.
Ashwin compares Hardik’s chat with Tilak to ‘Triple H’ moment
Ashwin described the exchange between Hardik and Tilak in dramatic terms while explaining how the innings took shape. “Hardik Pandya was talking to him (Tilak Varma) while batting, he motivated him, he did it like how we see in WWF (WWE). Just like Triple H used to do with water. So whatever Hardik Pandya said and did worked for Tilak Varma,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
That observation captured the emotional charge of the partnership. Hardik was not the main scorer in the stand, but his role in keeping Tilak switched on appeared significant. Tilak then tore through Gujarat’s attack and turned a competitive innings into a commanding one.
Ashwin reserved even stronger praise for the quality of the hundred itself. “This is easily one of the best IPL hundreds that I have seen. To take down Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Rashid Khan, and Mohammed Siraj on this pitch, it was probably one of the best IPL hundreds that I have ever seen,” he said on his YouTube channel.
That is where the innings stands out. This was not a flat-track accumulation padded by one weak spell. Tilak got his hundred against an attack featuring proven wicket-takers and high-end pace, and he did it while shifting the match decisively in Mumbai’s favour. His acceleration at the back end ensured MI finished with a score GT could not chase down.
Ashwin also pointed to the late surge as the moment the contest slipped away from Gujarat. “The momentum that MI got in the last three overs, the game was over for GT. The moment MI crossed 175 on this pitch, the game was done,” he said on his YouTube channel.
That reading fits the match pattern perfectly. Tilak’s assault in the closing stages lifted Mumbai well beyond a par total and changed the pressure equation completely. What looked like a solid total became a match-winning one, and Gujarat never truly recovered from that shift.
For Mumbai, the result mattered almost as much as the manner of it. After a rough stretch, they needed one innings to reset belief. Tilak gave them that. Hardik’s on-field encouragement added another talking point. Ashwin’s WWE comparison may have been playful, but his larger point was serious: the captain found the right moment, the batter responded, and Mumbai walked away with the kind of win that can change the tone of a season.
