New Delhi, May 29 (IANS): Former India opener Virender Sehwag is impressed with young Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma's performances and offers him valuable advice to help enhance his game.

Varma, who made his IPL debut in 2022, scored 397 runs across 14 matches at an average of 36.09. He continued with consistency and improved his game in the 2023 edition, scoring 343 runs across 11 matches at an average of 42.88.

Varma played a stunning knock of 43 off just 14 balls to keep MI in the hunt while chasing a mammoth 234-run target against GT in Qualifier Two.

Expressing his admiration for Varma's performance, Sehwag told him to focus on improving his fitness and identify the skills he can work on.

"He should focus on 2 things; improve his fitness, and identify the skills that he can work on, as well as the mindset. It often happens when you play regular cricket, you change yourself with time. But when you're not playing cricket, you have to focus on your fitness and your skills. Like Suryakumar Yadav, he practiced a lot for his shots," Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

Sehwag also advised Tilak to concentrate on strengthening his weaknesses, highlighting that the 20-year-old player reminded him of his younger self.

He drew upon his own debut for the Indian team as a reference to emphasise the significance of addressing areas of improvement.

"Tilak Varma should focus on improving his weakness. It reminds me of myself, when I played for India for the first time in 1999, I was dismissed by Shoaib Akhtar. Before I could bring my bat down, the ball hit my pad.

"So, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) told me one thing... go back, practice against fast bowling, so you come better prepared. I used to play at middle-order, I got spin, and by the time fast bowlers came, I had already scored a century. Likewise, Tilak Varma needs to look on where are his weaknesses," Sehwag said.