Home
Mumbai Indians' (MI) decision to retire out Tilak Varma with 24 runs needed off seven balls to bring in Mitchell Santner raised a few eyebrows. Even the MI dugout, Suryakumar Yadav was left baffled and expressed his disappointment.
In the penultimate over of the run chase against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Varma was retired out as he struggled to find boundaries. The left-handed batter was batting on 25 runs from 23 balls. As Varma walked back to the dugout, Suryakumar did not hide his emotions. As a result, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene walked up to Suryakumar and talked to him. The Indian T20I captain did not seem pleased with the move even after Jayawardene talked to him. The video has gone viral on social media.
Varma's replacement, Santner scored two runs off the first ball he faced. In the final over, MI needed 22 runs but captain Hardik Pandya did not give Santner the strike until the last ball when the game was already lost. Santner played a dot ball as MI lost the match by 12 runs. This is their third defeat in four games.
ALSO READ: 'I waited till the last few overs hoping': MI head coach on retiring out Tilak Varma
Pandya on retiring Tilak
After the game, Pandya did not blame Varma and took ownership of the loss. However, he said that the decision was taken as Varma was not finding the boundaries.
"It was obvious. We needed some hits. In cricket, some of those days come. When you try but it doesn't come off," he said in the post-match presentation.
ALSO READ: Big boost for LSG after 12-run win vs MI, Langer confirms star pacer 'bowling at 90-95%'
Jayawardene on retiring Tilak
In the post-match press conference, Jawardene defended the decision to retire out Varma as well.
"I waited till the last few overs hoping that because he 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," he said.
"When these things happen in cricket and not nice to take him out but I had to do that, it was a tactical decision at that point," he added.
Suryakumar in his 100th game for MI
Suryakumar walked in to bat when MI were 17/2 in the third over. He scored 67 runs from 43 balls, including nine fours and a six. He was dismissed by Avesh Khan in the 17th over with a slower ball.
