"Whose decision was it?" - Aakash Chopra on Tilak Varma being retired out in MI's IPL 2025 loss vs LSG

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has questioned who decided to retire out Tilak Varma in the Mumbai Indians' (MI) IPL 2025 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). While guessing that MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene took the call, he wondered whether the right decision was made.

LSG set MI a 204-run target in Match 16 of IPL 2025 in Lucknow on Friday, April 4. Although Tilak retired out after scoring a 23-ball 25, the move didn't yield the desired results, as the five-time champions were restricted to 191/5 and lost the game by 12 runs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener reckoned that Jayawardene might have decided to retire out Tilak in MI's IPL 2025 clash against LSG.

"Runs weren't coming from Tilak Varma's bat. He was struggling for strike and form, and whatever else. Hardik (Pandya) came and played a few good shots, and then Tilak Varma was retired out. Whose decision was it? Was it the captain's or the team management's? I feel it was Mahela Jayawardene's," he said (5:00).

Chopra questioned whether calling Tilak out to send in Mitchell Santner was the right call.

"He went and had a few discussions as well, but was it an upgrade? It's not preposterous to retire someone out but you need to have someone incredible after that. You sent Mitchell Santner. He took two runs off the first ball, and Hardik didn't give him the strike after that. If you weren't going to give the strike to Mitchell Santner, you wouldn't have given it to Tilak Varma as well. So what difference would it have made?" he elaborated.

Aakash Chopra opined that the Mumbai Indians should have retired out Tilak Varma earlier, provided they had a batter who could score runs at a rocket-like pace. He added that Tilak had better chances to hit than Santner, and also questioned whether Hardik Pandya was right in declining a single in the last over while playing with the New Zealand all-rounder.

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"Naman Dhir came and shone" - Aakash Chopra on MI's batting in IPL 2025 loss vs LSG

Naman Dhir played a blazing knock in MI's IPL 2025 clash against LSG. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Reflecting on the rest of MI's batting in their IPL 2025 clash against LSG, Aakash Chopra praised Naman Dhir (46 off 24) for playing a belligerent knock after Will Jacks (5 off 7) and Ryan Rickelton (10 off 5) had been dismissed cheaply.

"They needed a strong start, but they didn't get it. Neither Ryan Rickelton nor Will Jacks (scored runs), and Rohit Sharma wasn't there this time. Naman Dhir came and shone. He was playing very well until he played," he said in the same video.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also lauded Suryakumar Yadav for playing a swashbuckling knock, studded with his customary unconventional shots.

"Suryakumar Yadav creates different angles. He is absolutely different. He hits towards fine leg against balls that can't go there, but he does it. He was also hitting over cover. He was absolutely beautiful while he lasted. Till the time he was batting, the match was in Mumbai's favor," Chopra observed.

Suryakumar scored 67 runs off 43 deliveries with the help of nine fours and a six. He was dismissed when MI needed 52 runs off four overs, but Hardik Pandya (28* off 16) couldn't take them over the line in Tilak Varma (25 off 23) and Mitchell Santner's (2* off 2) company.