India, April 5 -- Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya explained the decision to retire out Tilak Varma as the side stumbled to a 12-run loss against Lucknow Super Giants in the Match No.16 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. The left-handed Tilak Varma came out to the middle in the ninth over after Naman Dhir lost his wicket for 46 off 24 balls.

However, the 22-year-old failed to get going, scoring 25 runs off 23 balls with a strike rate of 108.70.

With the equation boiling down to 24 runs off 7 balls, Tilak Varma was asked to walk back to the dugout as the management decided to retire him out and send Mitchell Santner to the middle. For the uninitiated, Hardik Pandya was a...