Tilak Varma retires himself out in the 19th over after a sluggish 23-ball 25 in LSG vs MI IPL 2025 match [Watch] 

Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma chose to end his struggle by retiring himself out during the dying stages of the run chase against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash took place at the Ekana Stadium on Friday, April 4. The left-handed batter looked far from his usual touch, and never got going in his painful 23-ball stay at the crease.

Varma came in as the impact sub at No.5 after a flourishing partnership between Naman Dhir and Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket that brought MI into the run chase. Although Suryakumar was in full flow, the left-handed batter failed to match the tempo from the other end, meaning that the required rate was never under control.

The responsibility mounted on Tilak Varma as the settled batter, at least in terms of balls played, after Suryakumar Yadav's dismissal in the 17th over of the innings. Hardik Pandya kept MI in the chase, but the team desperately needed runs from the other end as well.

The visitors needed 29 runs off the last two overs. Tilak Varma faced two deliveries in the penultimate over by Shardul Thakur, but could only record a couple of singles. After gaining the strike back from the skipper off the fifth delivery, Varma decided to walk off and not face the final delivery of the over.

Have a look at the incident right here:

All-rounder Mitchell Santner walked out to bat as a dejected Varma made his way back to the pavilion. The latter's 23-ball 25 included only two fours, and came at a strike rate of 108.70, when the batters around him largely fared well.

The brilliant 19th over by Shardul Thakur yielded only seven runs, leaving MI 22 to get in the final over. Hardik Pandya began the final over with a six off Avesh Khan, but could not close out the run chase. MI eventually finished with 191-5 to record their third loss of the IPL 2025 campaign.

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Tilak Varma becomes the 4th player to be retired out in IPL history

Ravichandran Ashwin was the first player to be retired out in the IPL as he made way for Riyan Parag in the IPL 2022 clash against LSG. Since then, PBKS' Atharva Taide and GT's Sai Sudharsan have also lost their wicket in a similar manner.

Tilak Varma had also failed to get going during the run chase against GT at the Narendra Modi Stadium. On that occasion, he scored 39 runs off 36 balls as MI lost that game by 36 runs.