MI’s Tilak Varma retired out against LSG

In a rare move, Mumbai Indians (MI) retired out Tilak Varma during their 204-run chase against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday. The southpaw came in as an Impact sub after MI were comfortably placed at 86-3 in 8.1 overs following the fall of the third wicket. With MI requiring 24 off seven balls, Tilak, who was struggling on 25 off 23 balls, was replaced by all-rounder Mitchell Santner during the fifth ball of the penultimate over. The move, however, didn’t go as planned, as the five-time champions lost the game by 12 runs. This is just the fourth time that a batter is being retired out in the IPL. Ravichandran Ashwin, playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR), was the first player to be retired out, against LSG in Wankhede in 2022. In the following season, Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) Atharva Taide and Gujarat Titans’ (GT) Sai Sudharsan were retired out against Delhi Capitals (DC) and MI in Dharamsala and Ahmedabad respectively.