hyderabad at a time when the country is witnessing increased disturbances and distrust among different communities it is heartening to see that sports as always has continued to transcend the race colour class and gender dividehyderabad batter n thakur tilak varma has been making waves in the last couple of years and is billed to don the india colours soon the southpaw however owes his success to coach salam bayash who has singlehandedly shaped the career of his ward the amarakbar story of the guru and his shishya is a very warm one indeedsalam had taken tilak under his care when the lad was just 11 years old since then salam and tilak have been inseparable as the coach took responsibility for virtually everything about the cricketer as tilaks parents were not keen on him pursuing a cricket career as they couldnt afford the expenses it took a lot of effort from salam to pursue them in fact the coach bore some of the expenses so that tilak doesnt give up cricketthough he has made phenomenal strides tilak hasnt forgotten his background he is still beholden to his coach last year i had gone to watch him play against csk and had not informed him about it but he was able to spot me in the stand and bowed towards me it was a great feeling to be acknowledged by tilak in front of all the big crowd i realized that a heera diamond was with me all these years salam told toi on mondayhe calls me up twice daily whether he has a match or not he never misses this ritual i always tell him to focus on his goal of playing for the country and to work hard towards that the 42yearold salam saidthere was an anthony without whom the world wouldnt have got to see this amarakbar jodi as a player salam was finding it difficult to continue with the sport but he didnt know anything else it was at this low point in his life that coach christopher thomas showed him a new purpose in lifei started coaching in 2008 at methodist boys school under christopher thomas sir he was responsible for bringing me into the coaching field i was not getting much support as a player and was a bit depressed christopher sir picked me up and encouraged me to take up coaching he asked me to be with him at the camp and a year later he helped me set up the academy legala cricket academy at lingampally salam saidbut it has been really hard work for the coach and quite a struggle but he kept faith in himself and his wards salam who lives in chandrayangutta in the old city travels over 70kms everyday to be at the academy i leave home at 5 am in the morning and reach the ground by 6 and return home at 9 pm i travel by scooter and on the way i plan in my mind