Suryakumar Yadav was in disbelief and seemingly disheartened after Mumbai Indians decided to retire out Tilak Varma while chasing a 204-run target against LSG. Tilak, who has two T20I hundreds for India and is one of the pillars of the core MI set-up, had managed just 25 off 23 balls with two boundaries when Mitchell Santner was sent in.

After the match, Jayawardene revealed that it was a 'tactical' decision to call back Tilak Varma and send Mitchell Santner. But former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif pointed out that there was no logic behind the move, especially replacing the southpaw with Santner, who is not renowned for his six-hitting abilities and has a career IPL strike-rate of 106.

"I think Tilak batted well for us when we lost that wicket and that partnership with Surya and he just wanted to get going but he just couldn't then and I waited till the last few overs hoping that because he spent some time there so he should have been able to get that hit out of the way but I just felt that at the end I just needed someone fresh to go and he was struggling when these things happen in cricket and not nice to take him out but I had to do that, it was a tactical decision at that point," Jayawardene explained in the press conference.

Needing 24 runs off the last seven balls in pursuit of a challenging 204, MI opted to retire Tilak, but the strategy didn't work as they managed only 191 for five in their 20 overs, losing the game by 12 runs.

However, a video has surfaced where Suryakumar Yadav was baffled after realising his teammate had been retired. Head coach Mahela Jayawardene stepped intervened and calmed things down.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Jayawardene reflected that they needed to be more "ruthless" in match situations to cross the line..

Brief scores:

LSG: 203/8 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 60, Aiden Markram 53, Ayush Badoni 30, David Miller 27; Hardik Pandya 5/36).

MI: 191/5 in 20 overs (Naman Dhir 46, Suryakumar Yadav 67, Tilak Varma 25, Hardik Pandya 28 not out).

(With agency inputs)

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world.