Tilak Varma became the fourth player in the IPL’s history to retire out. This momentous occasion occurred when he left the field with seven balls remaining in MI’s chase of 204 runs. Meanwhile, explaining the logic behind this decision, MI head Mahela Jayawardene said that it was a tactical decision.
Varma had come in as the impact sub, but his struggle was visible, scoring 25 off 23 deliveries. At the time, Tilak walked off the field; MI required 24 runs off just seven balls, a task that demanded aggressive hitting. However, Hardik Pandya showed some grit still, MI fell short of the winning total.
"Tilak batted well for us when we lost that wicket and in partnership with Suryakumar. He just wanted to get going, but he just couldn't. We waited till the last few overs, hoping that because he had spent some time there so he should have been able to get that hit out of the way, but I just felt that at the end, I just needed someone fresh to go, and he was struggling,” Jayawardene said during the press conference.
"These things happen in cricket. Not nice to take him out but I had to do that, it was a tactical decision at that point."
Mumbai Indians lost the game by 12 runs, recording their third defeat of the season. They finished at 191/5 in 20 overs with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring with 67 off 43. Their next outing is against RCB on Monday.