Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma became the fourth player in IPL history to retire out during Friday’s match against Lucknow Super Giants, departing with seven balls remaining after scoring 25 off 23 balls in a chase of 204, as MI fell short by 12 runs needing 24 off seven balls with five wickets in hand.
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene confirmed it was his tactical decision to retire out Tilak who was struggling to accelerate the scoring rate.
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“He just wanted to get going but he couldn’t. Waited till the last few overs, hoping that he would find his rhythm, 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. 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,” Jayawardene explained.
Tilak came to the crease with MI well-positioned at 86 for 3 in 8.1 overs. He formed a 66-run partnership off 48 balls with Suryakumar Yadav for the fourth wicket.
While Suryakumar scored fluently with 46 off 30 balls in the partnership, Tilak managed just 17 off 18 deliveries during their stand.
After Suryakumar’s dismissal, MI needed 52 runs from the final 23 balls. Tilak scored eight runs off his last five balls, including an edged boundary, before being retired out with captain Hardik Pandya at the other end.
Hardik supported the decision in his post-match comments to broadcasters: “I think that was obvious. We needed some hits, and he was not able to get them. Sometimes in cricket one of those days comes, when you really want to try but it does not happen, but the decision speaks for itself, why we did it.”
Despite the tactical substitution of Tilak, who entered as an Impact Sub, Mumbai Indians were unable to achieve the target as LSG secured a 12-run victory.
Players to be retired out in IPL history:
- R Ashwin – RR vs LSG in 2022
- Atharva Taide – PBKS vs DC in 2023
- Sai Sudharsan – GT vs MI in 2023
- Tilak Varma – LSG vs MI in 2025
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
