IPL 2025: Tilak Varma retires out after 23-ball 25, MI coach consoles him
IPL 2025, LSG vs MI: Tilak Varma retired out for 25 off 23, but his selfless call went in vain as the Mumbai Indians lost to the Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs at the Ekana Stadium.
by India Today Sports Desk · India TodayIn Short
- Tilak Varma retired out in the 19th over of MI’s run-chase
- Tilak scored 25 runs off 23 balls in Lucknow
- MI lost to LSG by 12 runs at the Ekana Stadium
Tilak Varma made a selfless call in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Friday, April 4 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Tilak had his troubles while batting as he scored only 25 runs off 23 balls after MI were asked to chase down a big target of 204 by the home team. Although he built a handy fourth-wicket partnership of 56 runs with Suryakumar Yadav, the left-hander looked out of sorts.
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With 24 runs needed off the last seven balls, Tilak decided to retire himself out, after which Mitchell Santner joined Hardik Pandya in the middle. In the penultimate over with 29 runs needed, skipper Hardik and Tilak managed to only take five singles before the latter decided to leave the crease.
On Tilak’s decision to retire out, Hardik said, “We needed some hits, he was not getting those. In cricket some of those days come, when you try but they don't come.”
MI go down in Lucknow
While Tilak was walking out, MI coach Paras Mhambrey gave him a pat on his back, consoling him. But Tilak’s sacrifice went in vain as MI lost the match by 12 runs. With 22 runs needed off the last over, Hardik smacked Avesh Khan for a massive six in the very first ball, but the LSG fast bowler made a stupendous comeback, giving away only nine runs.
In four matches thus far, Tilak has scored 95 runs at an average of 47.50 and a strike-rate of 113.09. The five-time champions also slumped to their third defeat in four matches and are languishing at seventh in the table with a net run rate of +0.108.
MI will be looking to bounce back when they lock horns with Rajat Patidar’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday, April 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.