Why is Tilak Varma not playing today's MI vs LSG IPL 2024 match?

Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma has missed out on the franchise's final match of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, May 17. The left-handed player has unfortunately sustained an injury which ends his campaign for MI.

The five-time winners are on the lookout to seek a consolation win and potentially avoid a bottom-placed finish for the second time in three years. MI won their previous home encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but ended up losing their most recent outing against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens.

MI skipper Hardik Pandya confirmed that Tilak Varma missed out on the playing XI due to an injury, and named a slew of other changes as well.

"We know where we stand but ending the tournament with a win will always be appreciated. It gives us more freedom to go out and express ourselves and play a good brand of cricket. Not much to think about. A couple of changes. Jassi is not there so Arjun plays. Tilak unfortunately has an injury and Brevis comes in. Tim misses out as well," Pandya said after opting to bowl first.

Tilak Varma was seen leading MI's talk in the huddle prior to the game, and the expectation was that he would be playing the contest along expected lines.

Tilak Varma ends 2024 IPL campaign with 416 runs in 13 innings

The left-handed batter was one of the few positives for MI in the forgettable 2024 campaign, as he continued to be a consistent entity in the middle-order. He struck three fifties in the season, with his 416 run-tally also yielding a strike rate of 149.64.

This marks the first time that he has breached the 400-run barrier in a single IPL season, and it leads to his most successful IPL campaign yet. After being roped in by MI in 2022, he scored 397 runs in his very first season. In the previous edition, he ended up with 343 runs, but had missed a couple of matches due to injury on that occasion.