Tilak Varma scored 25 runs in 23 balls and at an interesting point in the match when 24 runs were needed from 7 balls to win, he retired out.
A moment was witnessed in IPL 2025 when Mumbai Indians young left-handed batsman Tilak Verma retired out during the match against Lucknow Super Giants. In the match played at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Friday, Tilak Verma scored 25 runs in 23 balls and when MI was afraid of scoring 24 runs in just 7 balls to win, Tilak decided to leave the pitch. MI lost this match by 12 runs.
Tilak Varma has become the fourth player to retire in IPL history and is also the first player in the IPL 2025 season. Before him, this moment has been seen only three times in IPL, so fans were quite surprised and divided over Tilak’s move.
When Tilak came to bat at number 5, the 9th over was going on. He batted on the crease for a long time but was unable to rotate the strike properly and because of this the scoring rate was steadily going down. His innings was under pressure while chasing a big target like 204, where MI needed big shots in every over. But his 25 runs in 23 balls could not match the momentum of the match.
🚨 A RARE SCENE IN CRICKET. 🚨
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 4, 2025
– Tilak Varma who came in as an impact player, retired out before the final over. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/oqg6JwRNiV
The decision to retire out can be a part of the team strategy, but people on social media showed their displeasure over this matter. Many people believed that it would have been better to send a hard-hitter instead of Tilak, but many people also believe that Tilak should have played till the last ball, maybe he could have shown some magic in the last over and converted the defeat of the team into a win.
In a high-pressure tournament like IPL, every decision has some impact and Tilak’s sudden retirement highlights this point further. Now it will be very interesting to see whether MI continues this strategy in the upcoming matches or not.
So far this season has not been anything special for MI and MI fans have a lot of expectations from young talents like Tilak. But when such decisions are taken in such critical moments, it is natural for questions to arise.
Players to retire out in IPL
1) R Ashwin (RR) vs LSG in April 2022
2) Atharva Taide (PBKS) vs DC in May 2023
3) Sai Sudharsan (GT) vs MI in May 2023
4) Tilak Varma (MI) vs LSG in April 2025
Also Read : IPL 2025 Points Table Update After KKR vs SRH: Kolkata Rises to 5th, Hyderabad Sinks to Bottom!