Virender Sehwag, Murali Kartik can't digest MI's decision to retire Tilak Varma with 7 balls left against LSG

Mumbai Indians fell short of chasing down 204 against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday, losing by 12 runs in slightly controversial circumstances. The retiring out of Tilak Varma late in their chase was met with some confusion, as Mitchell Santner was brought in with seven deliveries left in the innings and 24 needed to win.

While Tilak had a subpar day as the impact sub, scoring 25(24) and letting the match slip through the middle overs, experts backed him to help Hardik Pandya get the job done. Ultimately, a sensational 19th over by Shardul Thakur allowed Avesh Khan to seal the win in the 20th.

Speaking on Cricbuzz about the decision to retire Tilak, Indian great Virender Sehwag admitted his confusion surrounding that decision.

“I didn’t understand why they got him to retire out,” explained Sehwag post-match. “He had played 20-25 deliveries, yes his shots weren’t connecting, but it’s not like Santner did something in the two balls he faced. If the last over was going to be faced by Hardik Pandya then why retire him?”

While Tilak is considered one of the standout young batters in Indian cricket, it wasn’t his day at the Ekana Stadium as he trudged through his innings. While Suryakumar Yadav scored a good half-century and Hardik Pandya also kept it moving at the death, MI were left with a bit too much to do in the last two overs.

‘Yaar, isko bahar bulao…’

Nevertheless, Sehwag backed Tilak, claiming this kind of thing would never happen during his own playing days.

“Who knows, on Santner’s two deliveries, maybe Tilak Varma hits a boundary. There would have been some benefit, but it’s outside my understanding,” said Sehwag. “In our time this kind of thing never happened, we always wished yaar isko bahar bulao, out hoke aaja (get him off the field, get out and come back.) But we never even thought to retire out.”

In addition to Sehwag, Murali Kartik also questioned the logic of the decision of calling Santner, only for Hardik to deny him the strike in the final over.

“If you have called Santner in with the belief that he can hit the big shot, then why did Pandya not take the single in the last over? If you have retired him out and want to maintain your logic for that, then you should have given Mitchell Santner the strike,” said the former Indian spinner.

MI now slip to three losses with only one victory so far this season, while LSG registered their second win to climb higher up the table.