After the loss of Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants, on Friday spectators have been questioning the decision of ‘Retiring Out’ Tilak Varma in the 18th over. Tilak Varma scored 25 runs on 23 balls which could have been the reason for skipper Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians’ management to retire him out mid-play. Mitchell Santner was sent at the place of Tilak Verma, which turned out to be pretty disastrous for them as apart from the first ball six in the last over both Hardik Pandya and Santner failed to take their team to victory. Upon this, former India cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar voiced his opinion.
Sunil Gavaskar said : MI removed Tilak Verma in an ongoing match just because he was playing slowly. Pandya as a captain is struggling to win games since the last 2 years. MI should remove him as well. There shouldn't be any hypocrisy.
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“MI removed Tilak Varma in an ongoing match just because he was playing slowly. Pandya as a captain is struggling to win games since the last 2 years. MI should remove him as well. There shouldn’t be any hypocrisy”, he said.
Decision Faces Backlash
The decision to remove Tilak, Varma has been facing backlash from many former cricketers, including Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh. Varma was brought in as the impact player by Mumbai Indians and came at number five. However, bringing out Santner also could not bridge the gap of the required runs as Santner made just two runs in two balls which also raised question on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and Mumbai Indians team management.
Rishabh Pant’s Form Raises Questions
Lucknow Super Giants committed a whopping ₹27 crore to acquire Rishabh Pant during the IPL 2025 auction. The LSG management purchased Pant for a large sum which sparked controversy given that he had recently returned from an extended nursery of injuries. The 2025 IPL season has shown very unimpressive results for Pant’s part as an athlete. He has been dismissed for just 2 runs in clash against the Mumbai Indians that has raised many eyebrows over the left-hander’s buy this season. He became the most expensive player in IPL history after this mega auction.
Also Read: LSG Vs MI: Does Sanjiv Goenka’s 27 Crore Gamble On Rishabh Pant Go Wrong? Read Report To Find Out
